Johnny Herbert

Herbert struggled for five years to re-establish himself. Victory in the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours for Mazda – the first for a Japanese manufacturer and a rotary engine – restored some lustre but part-time F1 spells with Tyrrell and then Lotus only allowed glimpses of his talent.

On the ascendency once more

However, with former Benetton Team Manager Peter Collins now in charge at Lotus, Herbert joined on a fulltime basis from mid 1991. He often outpaced team-mate Mika Häkkinen only for poor reliability to restrict him to just two points scores during 1992 and deny him a probable third place finish at Silverstone.

The Finn moved to McLaren but Herbert remained contracted to Lotus for the last two seasons of a once-great marque. However, he was back in demand by the end of 1994 and switched to Ligier and then Benetton when both teams were run by Flavio Briatore.

He stayed with Benetton as team-mate to new world champion Michael Schumacher but remained in the German’s shadow for much of 1995. However, the ever popular and genial Essex driver benefited when Schumacher and rival Damon Hill collided at Silverstone and Monza to score maiden F1 victories and finish fourth in the 1995 World Championship.

A final win for Stewart Grand Prix

That was not enough to retain his drive and Herbert then endured three difficult seasons with Sauber. He finished third at Monaco in 1996 but suffered a huge accident at Ste Devote a year later.

Also third in the 1997 Hungarian GP, Herbert moved to Stewart Grand Prix in 1999 and scored an unexpected final F1 victory in changeable conditions at the Nürburgring. A final, pointless season with the now rebranded Jaguar Racing in 2000 bought Herbert’s GP career to an unreliable and uncompetitive close.

Sports car champion and future in the media

He continued to race in sports cars and success in the American Le Mans Series with an Audi R8 included victories in the 2002 Sebring 12 Hours and 2003 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Second for Audi North America in the 2002 Le Mans 24 Hours, he repeated that result a year later with a Bentley Speed Eight.

The Volkswagen Group’s marketing objectives swung back from Bentley to Audi once more in 2004 and Herbert shared an Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx R8 with Jamie Davies in the Le Mans Series. He qualified on pole position for the 24-hours itself before finishing second once again. Twice winners in the series, Davies and Herbert were crowned Le Mans Series Champions that year.

Herbert won the all-star 2008 Speedcar Championship for identical stock cars with a double victory at the Dubai finale. Most recently, Herbert has successfully plied his trade as part of Sky Television’s line-up on British television.

It is impossible to tell what he could have achieved but for his injuries although three GP victories are testament to a resolute and talented driver.