Latest news with #JohnnyHerbert
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Is Lewis Hamilton really in free fall?
'Lewis is in free fall, isn't he?' That was a message I'd received this week from a friend, who is a staunch Hamilton supporter. The timing was interesting, as moments before, an email had dropped containing the comments from former F1 driver-turned-pundit Johnny Herbert, who is rapidly becoming Mr Rent-A-Quote on all manner of subjects, with his remarks freely available to use as a source for stories (in exchange for plugging betting websites). Advertisement In essence, Herbert's point was that Lewis Hamilton had lost his way with Ferrari and that the Italian team would be better to throw all its weight behind Charles Leclerc, who at 13 years younger, should be considered the team's future. It is a fair assessment, and came after Hamilton had finished sixth, courtesy of Max Verstappen's penalty in the Spanish GP; otherwise, it would have been seventh, while Leclerc had taken another podium finish. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari Clive Rose / Getty Images Clive Rose / Getty Images After the race in Barcelona, Hamilton had labelled it: 'the worst he had ever experienced'. That is some unwelcome accolade, given it was his 365th F1 race. With each race, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the growing frustration he is experiencing as he adjusts to the new surroundings following his switch from Mercedes in the winter. Advertisement Hamilton's commitment cannot be questioned. He is spending time at Ferrari's Maranello factory and staying well into the night during F1 GP weekends, digging into the data in the hope of finding elements that, as yet, have been missing. Those missing elements remain unknown to the sender of the text message, or indeed perhaps Herbert too, but those working close to him can see his determined work in a relentless quest for an uptick in performance and results. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF-25 Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SF-25 Andrej Isakovic / AFP via Getty Images Andrej Isakovic / AFP via Getty Images However, those halcyon days and his well-choreographed unveiling in the winter begin now seem a distant memory, and there is a foreboding sense that the dreams of winning an eighth F1 World Championship are nothing more than that. Advertisement The win in the sprint race in China, as was the happiness he expressed in the post-race media sessions at Imola, have both proved to be false dawns, and even, as is the case with the person who sent the message, the most passionate Hamilton fan must now be fearing the worst. Perhaps we should not be surprised. Like Hamilton, fellow F1 world champions Alain Prost, Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian Vettel all arrived at F1's most famous team with the hope that it would herald another title — only for that not to prove the case. So why is it not working for Hamilton? The situation is complicated, and there is not one single factor that is obvious. At the start of the season, Ferrari's problems stemmed from set-up, with ride height being a factor. Indeed, Hamilton was disqualified from the Chinese GP due to a worn plank as his car was set up too low to the ground. Advertisement Then there is Hamilton's fondness for an F1 car that is set up to be stiff - again compromised by the softer rear suspension set up, which has prevented him from getting it dialled in. Furthermore, the upgrades were slow to arrive in the early part of the season as Mercedes and Red Bull both benefitted from new parts. Poor strategy has been a frequent problem for Ferrari, and this has not been helped by Hamilton being required to forge a new relationship with his race engineer - and dealing with the language barrier. The significance of the cultural shift that comes with moving from a UK team to one based in Italy cannot also be underestimated. It was always going to take time for Hamilton to adjust, but to take Herbert's point, at 40, time in F1 is not something Hamilton has an abundance of. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari Peter Fox / Getty Images Peter Fox / Getty Images Advertisement It looks bleak, and perhaps to the outsider, looks like Hamilton is in free fall. His demeanour and comments in Barcelona are backed up by miserable race results, which means he's placed sixth in the drivers' championship — some 23 points behind his team-mate. Plus, history tells us that Ferrari does not usually offer a happy ending to the careers of F1 world champions. However, Hamilton's switch to Ferrari was never about this season, but for preparation for the new regulations that come in 2026, in the hope of one roll of the dice for the record-breaking eighth world title his glittering career deserves. Even the most fervent of Hamilton fans are having to dig deep, and some, like Herbert, are starting to question if it will happen. Is this really the beginning of the end, which will see him turfed out of the back door of a sport he has dominated? I absolutely hope not, but the reality is, we don't know. To read more articles visit our website.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Extortion, tasteless stunts and malign forces – the endless fascination with Michael Schumacher
As soon as the initials 'MS' appeared on a white race helmet, it felt like a message from the void. For nearly 12 years even the faintest update on Michael Schumacher had arrived second-hand at best, but here, at last, was a signature purportedly by the man himself. Sir Jackie Stewart, for whose Race Against Dementia charity the gesture was made, could not conceal his joy that the helmet – adorned with the Royal Stewart tartan and worn across a career spanning the Scot's three Formula One titles – had now been signed by all 20 living world champions. The wider significance, however, was that it represented the closest connection yet to an icon removed from public view, at once a precious affirmation of his survival but also a reminder of his desperate condition, truly an anguish without end. 'A wonderful moment,' said Johnny Herbert, Schumacher's former Benetton team-mate, on seeing those two surprise letters in black marker pen. 'We haven't seen something emotional like this in years, and hopefully it's a sign Michael is on the mend. It has been a long, horrible journey for the family, and maybe we'll see him in the F1 paddock soon.' Herbert's sentiments testify to the power of hope. While well-intentioned, they are negated by all available evidence. Since Schumacher struck his head on a rock while skiing in Méribel in December 2013, suffering such devastating brain trauma that he was placed in a coma for 250 days, he has made no public appearance of any kind. The likelihood, given the gravity of his injuries and wife Corinna's insistence on absolute privacy, is that he will never be seen by the wider world again. The effect of the family's scrupulous discretion is twofold. On the one hand, they have created a ring of steel around Schumacher, to the point where nobody can state with certainty even where he is being treated. As Corinna has put it: 'Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.' But the dearth of official health updates has bred a fascination so intense that the most elaborate fictions can masquerade as fact. In 2023, Die Aktuelle, a German women's interest weekly, ran a strapline promising 'Schumacher: the first interview', only for it to be disclosed at the end of the article that the quotes were generated by artificial intelligence. The publishers had to pay £170,000 in compensation, while the editor was fired. Today the only semblance of access to Schumacher's situation comes via his former inner circle in the sport. Just this week, Flavio Briatore, the irrepressible figure instrumental in his mid-Nineties glories at Benetton, offered an unusual level of detail, appearing to indicate the seven-time champion was bed-bound. 'If I close my eyes,' he told Corriere della Sera, 'I see him smiling after a victory. I prefer to remember him like that rather than him just lying on a bed. Corinna and I talk often, though.' Sabine Kehm, the Schumacher family's spokeswoman, did not respond to a request for comment. But Briatore's policy is one that Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's former ringmaster, has also adopted. While he is still in touch with Corinna, he clarified as early as 2015 that he would not be paying house visits, preferring to cherish the memory of the Michael he knew. Asked if this feeling remained the same a decade on, he replied: 'Absolutely. A hundred per cent.' Briatore's intervention came after his ex-wife, Elisabetta Gregoraci, said in 2020: 'Michael doesn't speak, he communicates with his eyes. Only three people can visit him and I know who they are.' Who are the three? Two we can identify with confidence are Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, the team principal and technical director during Schumacher's all-conquering years at Ferrari. Gerhard Berger, who went from being the German's fierce adversary to a close friend – and who, by eerie coincidence, broke his arm skiing off-piste just 10 weeks after that fateful Méribel morning – is understood to be the third. Brawn has spent time on several occasions with Schumacher at his vast house in Gland, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, cementing an unbreakable bond. He has provided the odd expression of optimism, saying in 2016 that the driver was showing 'encouraging signs' of recovery and that he was 'extremely hopeful we'll see Michael as we knew him at some point in the future'. Todt has long been the most frequent guest, welcomed by the family around twice a month. He has given a few more specifics, divulging that he and Schumacher have watched F1 races together on television. The Frenchman's reflections – which, despite their tenderness, acknowledge that 'there's no longer the same communication as before' – supports Gregoraci's suggestion that Schumacher is non-verbal. There is further corroboration from Felix Görner, a presenter with German broadcaster RTL and once the driver's frequent paddock companion. 'He is a person dependent on caregivers, who can no longer express himself through language,' he said recently. 'It's a very sad state of affairs. He was actually a hero, an indestructible hero. We're just clinging to hope, to a straw. But he's simply not well, so we won't see him again.' In many ways, Corinna's ability to sustain the official omertà around her husband is extraordinary. In 2019, the policy was tested to the limit by confirmation of their son Mick's elevation to the F1 ranks. But throughout his two seasons at the summit, inhabiting the most oppressive goldfish bowl in sport, Kehm acted on Corinna's behalf to ensure that he was never lured into any unwitting bulletin about Michael. The same hyper-vigilance has extended to the couple's daughter Gina. At her wedding last October to partner Iain Bethke, held inside the Schumachers' lavish Majorcan villa, guests reportedly had their phones confiscated to prevent the leaking of any images or videos. This still failed to stop accounts surfacing in Germany that Michael had attended the ceremony – reports since rubbished by Herbert as 'A1 fake news'. That said, the Schumacher link to the Balearic island is well-established. Spanish newspapers indicated in 2020 that Corinna had moved Michael on a more permanent basis to a property in Port d'Andratx, formerly owned by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, as she began a gradual relocation from their Swiss home. But even the particulars of this arrangement are fiercely guarded, with the family's precise division of time between Majorca and Switzerland kept secret so as to deter fans and paparazzi from prying on the houses. You can understand the reasons for reticence. In some quarters, the obsession with Michael's situation has long since gone from ghoulish to outright criminal. The Schumachers are still reeling from a trial earlier this year that culminated in three men being found guilty of a £12.5 million plot to blackmail them. Yilmaz Tozturkan, a nightclub bouncer, received a three-year prison sentence after he, with his IT expert son Daniel Lins and Schumacher's former bodyguard Markus Fritsche, had threatened to upload 1,500 pictures and videos of Michael, as well as confidential medical records, on the dark web unless they were paid the money. The material had been stolen from a computer and given to Fritsche, who passed it to Tozturkan at a cafe. Both Tozturkan and Lins had claimed to be offering the family a 'business deal'. Before the verdict was announced, Tozturkan said: 'I'm very sorry and ashamed for what I have done. It was a very disgusting thing. I take full responsibility.' During the trial, the Schumachers had voiced worries that one hard drive containing sensitive photos had not been recovered, despite several searches of the defendants' residences. Thilo Damm, their lawyer, confirmed their plan to appeal against the 'lenient' punishment, saying: 'We don't know where the missing hard drive is. So there is the possibility of another threat through the back door.' Kehm, the first witness called, gave an insight into the acute anxieties inside the Schumacher camp around breaches of trust. 'I got a call, and it was a number we didn't recognise, so at first we didn't answer,' she told the court in Wuppertal. 'But it kept calling and calling, so in the end I answered, and it was a man who said he had pictures of Michael, that if the family didn't want them published he could help. We would have to pay €15 million. He said the money was for the pictures and his go-between service.' In Corinna and the long-serving Kehm, at his side since joining as his personal press officer in 1999, Michael has two formidably effective gatekeepers. Now that he is seemingly no longer in a position to dictate his wishes, the two women unswervingly loyal to him exercise them on his behalf, upholding his long-held principle that his private life is off-limits. 'We are getting on with our lives,' she explained in the 2021 Netflix documentary Schumacher, the only interview she has given since the day of horror in the French Alps. ''Private is private,' as he always said.' Theirs was always a strong marriage, even under the stresses of the F1 hamster-wheel. Michael once said of Corinna, a celebrated equestrienne who became a European champion in Western-style horse riding: 'We share the same values. During all the time I was racing, she was my guardian angel.' Still, you cannot help but wonder at the toll that the tragedy of Michael's circumstances has wrought on his wife's wellbeing. Eddie Jordan, who died in March but who had given Schumacher his first F1 chance, recruiting him to his eponymous team in 1991, did not shy away from a view on the subject. Having known Corinna since before she married Michael, he said in 2023: 'This was the most horrific situation. Corinna has not been able to go to a party, to lunch or this or that – she's like a prisoner, because everyone would want to talk to her about Michael when she doesn't need reminding of it every minute.' Schumacher accumulated a vast fortune as the most decorated driver of his era, with a net worth estimated at £450 million. Clearly, this has cushioned the financial impact of the bills for his round-the-clock medical care. But money is a frippery when set against the nightmare that his accident has unleashed. At one level, there is the sorrow that Schumacher has apparently shown no progress to report, with the extent of his injuries – diagnosed at the time as cerebral contusion and oedema – causing terminal damage. At another, there is the constant concern that the carefully-maintained silence around his day-to-day life could be upended by malign forces. As gruelling as this year's court case proved, it was not the first time the family had been targeted by unscrupulous opportunists. Even as Schumacher lay fighting for his life in a hospital bed in Grenoble, just eight days after his ski crash descending the Combe de Saulire, a journalist sought to gain entry to his private room by posing as a priest. 'I wouldn't have ever imagined something like this could happen,' said a furious Kehm. Each time that a gross violation of privacy occurs, the culprit is full of contrition. Just as Tozturkan admitted his extortion attempt was a 'disgusting' act, Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke – the company behind the notorious AI article in Die Aktuelle – apologised for the 'tasteless and misleading' stunt. And yet the pattern keeps repeating, with the voracious global appetite to learn more about Schumacher naturally hardening a resolve among his protectors to give nothing. Willi Weber, his ex-manager, has been critical of this circumspect approach, previously accusing the Schumachers of 'not telling the whole truth' about Michael and urging them to 'pour pure wine for his millions of fans'. At this stage, any such urgings are redundant. What remains of Michael's life will unfold according to Corinna's prescription, where, to whatever degree possible, he can feel the strength of the family bond, and where she and their two children can, in turn, map out their lives without prurient intrusion. It is worth asking whether that white helmet, now the pride of the Sir Jackie Stewart collection, should mark the end of the intrigue. There is something intensely poignant about seeing the addition of that 'MS' beneath the visor. It is as much as we had any right to expect, and as much as he is ever likely to provide. On the surface, it might look insignificant, with even Stewart conceding that it had needed the guiding hand of Corinna to produce. But the weight of its symbolism is profound, signifying that Schumacher, now 56 years old and the figure by whom all other champions are judged, is still with us, still capable of communicating through his touch. In an otherwise shattering tale, it is the one consolation to which we can cling.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
‘It's not nice to see' – Lewis Hamilton warned he's suffering from same issue as Michael Schumacher after Ferrari switch
LEWIS HAMILTON is "lost" and suffering the same problem that fellow Formula One icon Michael Schumacher did. Hamilton, 40, has struggled to extract top performance from his Ferrari machinery since joining the team over the winter. 4 4 The Brit has achieved one Sprint Race win in China but has otherwise failed to achieve a podium for the Scuderia. Former F1 star and Sky Sports F1 pundit Johnny Herbert believes Hamilton is suffering the same issues as Schumacher, 56, did when he came back to the motorsport after a break. That being the "raw pace just isn't there anymore", a thought which Herbert says is "not nice to see". Schumacher - whose ex-F1 boss gave an insight into his health battle - retired from F1 in 2006 before returning with Mercedes in 2010, but only achieved one podium in three seasons with the Silver Arrows. Speaking to InstantWithdrawalBettingSites, Herbert, 60, said: "It just looks like Lewis Hamilton is lost, really lost. "I don't know if the raw pace that he's always had throughout his career is there anymore. "I thought, with the pure racing skill Hamilton had, he'd be able to drive around any problems with the car but he seems stuck in a hole. It's not nice to see. "It's not the first time we've seen it in the sport, though. Nigel Mansell won his championship in 1992, went to America in 1993, came back in 1994 and it didn't work anymore for him. "It happened with Michael Schumacher too, when he had his break and came back, then he wasn't the same Schumacher as before. "You're always going to have your peak and an end of your peak. It's not nice to see." Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc has raised his own complaints about the car and race engineers, but has managed to eke out better results with three podium finishes, including back-to-back in Monaco and Spain. Herbert added: "I know Charles Leclerc is not happy with the car either, but at least he's getting podium finishes consistently. "There have been a couple of poor decisions in Ferrari's strategy and poor communication over the radio, Hamilton doesn't have the synergy with his engineer that he needs. "He hasn't found his comfort zone since the sprint win in China. "Sometimes you don't realise when it's not as easy as it was before, but when you look across the garage and your team-mate is outperforming you, then it may click. "The greats of the sport, at their peak, get the best out of their car. Max Verstappen is doing it right now. Hamilton just can't seem to get the extra he needs anymore. "He won't understand why he can't, because he'll feel like he should be able to. But, Leclerc is outperforming you in the same car. Leclerc is only going to grow and is in control of Ferrari's future. "He's the guy they can rely on, Ferrari can't rely on Lewis Hamilton at this point. It's horrible to say but it's the truth." Former Mercedes and McLaren star Hamilton appeared close to tears following the Spanish Grand Prix where he finished P6, even after a penalty for old rival Max Verstappen bumped him up the order. 4 Hamilton later apologised to Sky Sports F1 presenter Rachel Brookes after his blunt response to a question, where he snapped: "Well what do you want me to say? I had a really bad day and I've got nothing to say. 'It was a difficult day, I've got nothing else to add to it. There's no point explaining it." Hamilton will now have next weekend off to help him collect his thoughts before getting back behind the wheel for the Canadian Grand Prix on June 15. McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lead the World Drivers Championship, with the Aussie leading by 10 points after claiming victory in Barcelona last weekend. He has opened up a huge 49-point gap to reigning four-time world champion Verstappen after the Dutchman lost his head and crashed into Mercedes' George Russell when asked to yield his position. Despite calls to be disqualified, the incident saw the Red Bull driver being given a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from P5 to P10, and slapped with three penalty points on his FIA Super Licence. That decision has placed him on the brink of a race ban after collecting 11 out of a maximum of 12 penalty points. The system works on a 12-month rolling timer, but the next time the 27-year-old will see any points taken off his record will be June 30. Races are due to commence in Montreal and Spielberg before that date, meaning he will have to be on his best behaviour to avoid a ban. Picking up another point in Canada will mean a ban for his team's home race at the Red Bull Ring, meanwhile, a point in Austria would see him banned for the British Grand Prix on July 6. Hamilton himself sits P6 in the standings, while his team have squeezed their way into P2.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Max Verstappen ‘deserved black flag' for George Russell collision, says Johnny Herbert
Johnny Herbert believes Max Verstappen should have been disqualified from Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix as the fallout from the Dutchman's collision with George Russell continues. Verstappen deliberately drove into arch-rival Russell during the closing stages of Sunday's race. The Dutchman was given a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to tenth, and handed three penalty points on his FIA superlicence. He is now just one point away from a race ban. Nico Rosberg, the 2016 F1 world champion, said on commentary duties for Sky Sports F1 that Verstappen should have been disqualified and ex-F1 racer Herbert agreed with that assessment. 'I totally agree with Nico Rosberg -- Max Verstappen deserved a black flag and should have been disqualified,' Herbert said. 'There's a point where you have to be hard on the driver when there have been many of these types of incidents. Verstappen is the best driver on the track, with the best racecraft and judgement, but there is always a story with him. 'It's usually some kind of racing incident we all end up talking about with Verstappen, unfortunately. It was clear as day that Verstappen's move on George Russell was on purpose. He backed out at the right corner, where he could then attack and retake the place by driving into Russell. To me, that's overstepping the mark.' Herbert added that modern-day racing involving 'wheel-banging' needs to be stamped out by the stewards. "A black flag is something that could have been thought of by the stewards and the race director, you have to stop this wheel-banging type of racing,' Herbert said, in association with RoobetAlternatives. 'Anyone can go and crash into another car, it's totally wrong to purposely bang into a fellow driver. 'It's happened historically, with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, with Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill, and with Jacques Villeneuve too. In the 1997 incident, Schumacher was banned for the season. "For me, I'd like to think I was a hard and clean racer, and Verstappen can be that too, that collision overstepped the mark. I don't want to see it, nor do the drivers. 'That type of racing should not happen. If it does happen, the penalty should be harsher to stamp it out. It can't just be a 10-second penalty, otherwise you're treating it like any other racing incident." Herbert was dropped as an F1 race steward in January after being criticised by Verstappen's dad, Jos, for commenting on the Dutchman's driving style as a media pundit, alongside being an official. The 60-year-old was critical of Verstappen's driving style in Mexico last year, when the former British driver was part of the stewarding panel who dished out a 20-second penalty to the Red Bull driver. This incident prompted Jos to rebuke: 'I think a steward shouldn't talk to the press at all.' Herbert was then dropped by the FIA prior to the 2025 season due to the 'incompatibility' of his dual role. The next race of the 2025 season is the Canadian Grand Prix on 15 June.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Alpine boss Flavio Briatore ‘should not be back in F1', says Johnny Herbert
Johnny Herbert believes Flavio Briatore should 'not be back in F1 ' after the Italian maverick returned to the paddock with Alpine as de facto team principal. Briatore, 75, will enact all the duties of former team principal Oliver Oakes after the Briton's resignation three weeks ago, due to personal reasons. While Briatore's official title will remain 'executive adviser', he is effectively back as team boss 17 years after the 2008 Crashgate scandal, when he was initially given a lifetime ban from the sport for his role as Renault team principal in Nelson Piquet Jnr's deliberate crash in Singapore. Briatore's ban was later overturned in the French courts but, given his chequered past, ex-F1 driver Herbert believes it's wrong that the Italian has returned in a team-leading capacity in the paddock. 'I didn't agree when Flavio Briatore came back and I still don't agree that he's back,' Herbert said. 'But he is back and he's in the battle. He's now head of the Alpine team and running it. 'Those decisions have been made, as I said, don't agree. I don't think it's the right thing, he's back.' Briatore, who returned to Renault-owned Alpine last summer as 'executive adviser', recently decided to drop Jack Doohan after just seven races for Argentine driver Franco Colapinto. However, with a keen eye on new regulations in 2026 and a chance for Alpine to narrow the gap to the frontrunners, Herbert believes Briatore could target a seasoned veteran in the F1 cockpit. 'If Briatore is someone who gets Sergio Perez at Alpine and Perez does a good job and then Flavio gets on his side, he'd be in a very strong position,' Hebert said, in quotes associated with 'If it doesn't go well, you'll have exactly what's happened with Jack Doohan. 'That is always going to be part of what Flavio does. He will always choose one. 'He's one who has always done that and that's where it can be very damaging for the driver's career, but also just mentally.' Alpine failed to score points at the last race in Monaco; F1 next heads to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
