Johnny Herbert

[MichaelC]

Showing my (lack of) age here:

I just read the Johnny Herbert thinks he could have been WDC if he'd not had his 1988 crash at Brands Hatch in the F3000 race. I vaguely remember that happening, but it was one of my earliest memories of motorsport. Therefore I don't really know how good he actually is, from my persective Johnny blames everything on his accident.

What do you think? Was he really that good, and has it just been a case of him never having the car under him to win races consistantly? Or is he just looking for an excuse for finally being kicked out?

[marcus]

If you saw that crash you too would blame everything on it..johnny was and to some degree a fantastic driver..he won the brit F3 title in 1987 and moved into F3000 for 88 and was doing a mighty fine job in his first year until the crash....it was a crushing blow for the young guy ..but to his credit he fought back brilliantly ..for just a few months later after basically having to learn to walk again he was making his F1 debut and finished 4th..but his career has been full of ups and downs and way to many retirements ..usually the car letting him down...the price to pay for being at Lotus in their final years..
he may have been champ if not for the crash..look he won 3 GP's and still walks with a horrible limp to this day..so if it had not of happened ..maybe a top team would have picked him up instead of Lotus..and maybe just maybe he would have been champion..who knows ???

[massifheed]

Couldn't have put it better myself. The guy is as good as he says he is.

[Marshal]

Rumour has it that Frank Williams was there that day to sign young Johnny as his race driver for '89. Chances were that if he had, Johnny not Nigel would have been driving for William during '92. Yes he could have been champion. Also, immediately before the Brands race he'd tested for Lotus at Monza, and was half a second quicker than Piquet first time in the car. He was that good.

[Viceroy]

In my opinion the opinions expressed here are quite far fetched.several other drivers had horrible crashes and succeeded nevertheless.saying that herbert would have been world champion without his crash,is like asserting that lauda would have won 8 championships without nürburgring 76.

[EERO]

Who are we to assume that we know the long term effects of of serious injuries?
Certainly no one doubts Johnny's tremendous courage, but it is possible that the extent of the damage to his legs had a profound impact upon his ability to drive a car at its absolute limit.

Lauda's horrific crash at the Nurburgring in '76 simply may not have been as responsible for long term after effects as Herbert's had been.

How is it that the rash of serious injuries in early '94 left Alesi relatively intact and yet effectively ended the F1 careers of Lehto and Wendlinger. It was widely believed that Panis Montreal Crash of 1997 had had a permanent impact upon his skills-but I think we can safely say that he has regained his former speed.

Injuries can have long-lasting ramifications and the apparent violence of the accident is no clear indication of those effects.

[Jay]

but I think we can safely say that [Panis] has regained his former speed.

I think we should wait until he has proven himself in a race before making such statements.

One thing that made Johnny's injuries so different from those of other drivers was the fact that Johnny's was left with permanent leg damage. He still walks with a limp. My guess is that he had to relearn a few techniques about driving after his accident.

And for those of you who haven't seen it, here are a number of images from Johnny's F3000 crash. http://www.johnnyherbert.co.uk/album/crash.shtml

[Willie the Pimp]

Yeah..it's like that heavy weight Boxer..
if he didn't have that horrible chainsaw accident,
that cut off his left arm...
He could have been a contender...Right?

[Sparky]

..."I think we should wait until he has proven himself in a race before making such statements."

Jay, I don't think EERO's 'statement' suggested that Panis will win every race he enters, just that he is back driving as quick as he ever did. (If not quicker!)

Can you imagine how Johnny's career could have turned out if Uncle Frank had signed him instead of 'Our Nige'?

...He'd have been in Indy cars a bit sooner, anyway!

[Marshal]

The thing about the injuries that Johnny sustained, was that they left is lower legs smashed, and this reduced both the mobility and sensitvity of this crucial area of the body for racing drivers. Having seen him race before and after his crash, I think he lost something after that crash, which meant he was only very goo, not the world beater he'd been before. IMO.