Career

Early career and entry to Formula One

During the mid-1980s, Herbert was widely regarded as a coming man of motor racing, comparable to the Scot Jim Clark. Winning the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1985, Herbert caught Eddie Jordan's attention, and together they won the 1987 British Formula 3 title. Herbert suffered career-threatening injuries in 1988, as a then championship hopeful in International Formula 3000 when he was caught up in a major accident at Brands Hatch, sustaining severe ankle and foot injuries after multiple collisions with the barriers. The threat of amputation loomed but it eventually passed after multiple surgeries and months of physiotherapy though the extent of Herbert's injuries would permanently hinder his mobility, leaving him unable to run and forcing him to change his driving style. Despite his immobility, Herbert returned to racing at the beginning of 1989 in Formula 1, scoring points on his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro driving for the Benetton team, then managed by his long-time mentor and friend Peter Collins.

However, Herbert's performances could not keep up that standard, and with the Benetton team under new management, he was dropped after failing to qualify for the Canadian Grand Prix. Herbert returned to Formula 3000, this time in the highly regarded Japanese series. It wasn't long before he received another call from Grand Prix racing, this time Tyrrell. From 1990 to 2000, Herbert was a fixture in Formula One, switching to the dwindling Lotus team, now managed by Peter Collins.

During 1991, he also drove two rounds of the Fuji Long Distance Sports Car Series, co-driving a Mazda 787B, finishing fourth both times. His decision, at the July round, to stop his car and aid a fellow competitor, who had suffered a puncture at high speed, would earn him the Sportsman Award at the 1991 Autosport Awards.

Ligier and return to Benetton (1994-1995)

After 3 years of frustration, Herbert left Lotus in mid-1994, joining Ligier and then Benetton for the last few races of the season. Although he failed to score any points in 1994, he was retained as Michael Schumacher's team-mate for 1995. At the British Grand Prix, he inherited a hugely popular Grand Prix win after Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher collided. He followed this in similar circumstances at Monza, finishing 4th in the championship.

Sauber, Stewart and Jaguar (1996-2000)

After being dropped by Benetton, Herbert drove for Swiss outfit Sauber in 1996-1998, scoring two podium places. Moving to Stewart Grand Prix in 1999, he was routinely outqualified by his younger team mate Rubens Barrichello but scored his third and final Grand Prix win in a remarkable wet/dry European Grand Prix. Staying at Stewart after the team was purchased by Ford and became Jaguar, Herbert endured another frustrating and pointless season, ending the year being stretchered off at Malaysia after a suspension failure caused him to crash heavily.

After Formula One

Since retiring from Grand Prix racing, Herbert has concentrated on Sports Cars, trying to repeat his Le Mans 24 Hours overall win of 1991. Recent years have seen him as one of the front runners in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), where he won several events and was a challenger for the 2003 crown.

In 2004, Herbert, along with Jamie Davies won the Le Mans Series championship at the wheel of an Audi R8 winning the races at Monza and Spa along the way.

In 2005, Herbert was appointed to the post of Sporting Relations Manager at Jordan Grand Prix, which was then renamed Midland F1 for the 2006 World Championship. However, in September of that year Spyker Cars bought the team, and renamed it Spyker MF1. Another of the new owners' decisions was to not renew Herbert's contract.

In 2007, Herbert entered the Le Mans 24 Hours driving for the factory Aston Martin team at the wheel of the Aston Martin DBR9 in the GT1 class. Herbert, along with Peter Kox and Tomáš Enge drove the 007 numbered car to a 9th placed overall finish and 4th in the GT1 class.

In 2008, Herbert won the first season of the Speedcar Series.

In 2009, Herbert made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship for Team Dynamics at the wheel of a Honda Civic at round eight of the championship, Silverstone. He qualified 17th for the first race, and after moving up the order, finished in 13th. In the second race, he finished inside the points in eighth place, scoring three points. In the final race of the day, a reverse starting grid is operated. The first six, seven, eight, nine or ten cars to finish race two, start race three in reverse order. This is decided by the winner of race two drawing a number between six and ten out of a hat. For the final race of the day, the top 9 finishers were reversed, meaning Herbert started from second. He was running well, and was holding 4th, but was forced to retire on lap 13, after contact with Jason Plato. Herbert went on to compete in the final two rounds of the season.

Herbert also runs a charity event called the Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge every year for charities like the halow project which is now held at Capital Karts in London. This event invites celebrities and professional racing drivers to compete in indoor go karting and is now in its 20th year.

Sky Sports F1 HD

Herbert is a regular contributor to the new Sky Sports F1 HD channel co-hosting the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix alongside Martin Brundle. He regularly offers post-race analysis for the channel and also often appears on the channel's dedicated F1 show. On 2 April 2016 he suggested that Fernando Alonso should retire from F1, after which Alonso hit back at him during a live broadcast by suggesting that Herbert "is now a commentator, because he is not a world champion".

GT Academy

In 2013 and 2014, Herbert mentored 6 contestants in a primetime ITV4 reality series, with the aim of taking players of the Gran Turismo videogames to the Dubai 24 Hour race as real drivers. Other countries in Europe had heats mentored by drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Sébastien Buemi.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1988	Jordan Racing	JER	VAL	PAU	SIL	MON	PER	BRH	BIR	BUG	ZOL	DIJ	8th	13

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts.
1989	Benetton Formula	Benetton B188	Ford V8	BRA	SMR	MON	MEX	USA	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN								14th	5
	Tyrrell Racing Organisation	Tyrrell 018	Ford V8											BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS
1990	Camel Team Lotus	Lotus 102	Lamborghini V12	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS		NC	0
1991	Team Lotus	Lotus 102B	Judd V8	USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR †	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS		NC	0
1992	Team Lotus	Lotus 102D	Ford V8	RSA	MEX	BRA	ESP														15th	2
		Lotus 107	Ford V8					SMR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL †	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS
1993	Team Lotus	Lotus 107B	Ford V8	RSA	BRA	EUR	SMR †	ESP	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS		9th	11
1994	Team Lotus	Lotus 107C	Mugen-Honda V10	BRA	PAC	SMR	MON														NC	0
		Lotus 109	Mugen-Honda V10					ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR
	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	Ligier JS39B	Renault V10														EUR
	Mild Seven Benetton Ford	Benetton B194	Ford V8															JPN	AUS
1995	Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton B195	Renault RS7 3.0 V10	BRA	ARG	SMR	ESP	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	EUR	PAC	JPN	AUS	4th	45
1996	Red Bull Sauber Ford	Sauber C15	Ford Zetec-R V10	AUS	BRA	ARG	EUR	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA †	POR	JPN		14th	4
1997	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C16	Petronas V10	AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	10th	15
1998	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber C17	Petronas V10	AUS	BRA †	ARG	SMR	ESP	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	AUT	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	LUX	JPN		15th	1
1999	Stewart Ford	Stewart SF3	Ford V10	AUS	BRA	SMR †	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	AUT	GER †	HUN	BEL	ITA	EUR	MAL	JPN		8th	15
2000	Jaguar Racing	Jaguar R1	Ford V10	AUS	BRA	SMR	GBR	ESP	EUR †	MON	CAN	FRA	AUT	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	USA	JPN	MAL	17th	0

† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1990	Team LeMans	SUZ	FUJ	MIN	SUZ	SUG	FUJ	FUJ	SUZ	FUJ	SUZ		16th	3
1991	Team LeMans	SUZ	AUT	FUJ	MIN	SUZ	SUG	FUJ	SUZ	FUJ	SUZ	FUJ	10th	9

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1990	Mazdaspeed	Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot	Mazda 787	GTP	148	DNF	DNF
1991	Mazdaspeed	Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot	Mazda 787B	C2	362	1st	1st
1992	Mazdaspeed Oreca	Volker Weidler Bertrand Gachot Maurizio Sandro Sala	Mazda MXR-01	C1	336	4th	4th
2001	Champion Racing	Didier Theys Ralf Kelleners	Audi R8	LMP900	81	DNF	DNF
2002	Audi Sport North America	Christian Pescatori Rinaldo Capello	Audi R8	LMP900	374	2nd	2nd
2003	Team Bentley	Mark Blundell David Brabham	Bentley Speed 8	LMGTP	375	2nd	2nd
2004	Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	Jamie Davies Guy Smith	Audi R8	LMP1	379	2nd	2nd
2007	Aston Martin Racing	Peter Kox Tomáš Enge	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	337	9th	4th

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
2001	Champion Racing	LMP900	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M	TEX	SEB	DON	JAR	SON	POR	MOS	MID	MON	PET	8th	113
2002	Audi Sport North America	LMP900	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M	SEB										4th	206
	Champion Racing						SON	MID	AME	WAS	TRO	MOS	MON	MIA	PET
2003	Team Bentley	LMGTP	Bentley Speed 8	Bentley 4.0L Turbo V8	M	SEB										4th	160
	ADT Champion Racing	LMP900	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8			ATL	SON	TRO	MOS	AME	MON	MIA	PET
2004	Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx	LMP1	Audi R8	Audi 3.6L Turbo V8	M	SEB	MID	LIM	SON	POR	MOS	AME				8th	64
	ADT Champion Racing												PET	MON

Complete IndyCar Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
2002	Duesenberg	Dallara	Chevrolet	HMS	PHX	FON	NAZ	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MCH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS	NC	0

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2002	Dallara	Chevrolet	DNQ		Duesenberg

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position - 1 point awarded just in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap - 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap - 1 point awarded all races)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Pos	Pts
2009	Team Dynamics	Honda Civic	BRH 1	BRH 2	BRH 3	THR 1	THR 2	THR 3	DON 1	DON 2	DON 3	OUL 1	OUL 2	OUL 3	CRO 1	CRO 2	CRO 3	SNE 1	SNE 2	SNE 3	KNO 1	KNO 2	KNO 3	SIL 1	SIL 2	SIL 3	ROC 1	ROC 2	ROC 3	BRH 1	BRH 2	BRH 3	19th	8

Complete International Superstars Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2010	Motorzone Race Car	Chevrolet Lumina CR8	MNZ R1	MNZ R2	IMO R1	IMO R2	ALG R1	ALG R2	HOC R1	HOC R2	CPR R1	CPR R2	VAL R1	VAL R2	KYA R1	KYA R2			7th	66
2011	Romeo Ferraris	Mercedes C63 AMG	MNZ R1	MNZ R2	VNC R1	VNC R2	ALG R1	ALG R2	DON R1	DON R2	MIS R1	MIS R2	SPA R1	SPA R2	MUG R1	MUG R2	VAL R1	VAL R2	6th	96
2012	Swiss Team	Maserati Quattroporte	MNZ R1	MNZ R2	IMO R1	IMO R2	DON R1	DON R2	MUG R1	MUG R2	HUN R1	HUN R2	SPA R1	SPA R2	VAL R1	VAL R2	PER R1	PER R2	12th	36

Helmet

Herbert's helmet design was red with white line going from the rear going through the sides and on the mouthplate, black stripes on the lower sides a black stripe on the rear (in a similar fashion to Depailler's helmet), in 1999, when he drove for Stewart, the stripes on the lower sides were changed to green and on the top of the helmet was added a drop with the union jack. in 2000, when he drove for Jaguar, the green areas became blue.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]