Herbert won the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in 1985, attracting the attention of Eddie Jordan, and the two won the 1987 British Formula 3 title together. In the same year he guested in the ESSO MG Metro Turbo Challenge at Silverstone, taking pole and leading before a clutch failure ended his race.
In 1988, competing in International Formula 3000, Herbert was caught in a major accident at Brands Hatch when Gregor Foitek made contact at Pilgrim's Drop, sending Herbert into the barriers head-on and then across the track into the opposite barrier. The resulting injuries to his ankles and feet were severe enough that amputation was briefly considered. He underwent multiple surgeries and months of physiotherapy. The damage was permanent: Herbert could no longer run freely and was unable to press the brake pedal with the same force as before, requiring an adaptation of his driving technique that would shadow the rest of his career.
Despite his limited mobility, Herbert made his Formula One debut at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix for Benetton, finishing fourth — just 10.5 seconds behind winner Nigel Mansell and 7.7 seconds ahead of teammate Alessandro Nannini. He could not sustain that pace across the season, however, and was dropped after failing to qualify in Canada, replaced by Emanuele Pirro.
He returned to the Lotus team from 1990, taking over from Martin Donnelly following Donnelly's career-ending accident at Jerez. At Lotus he spent four seasons racing aging, underfunded machinery alongside Mika Häkkinen. In 24 shared races, Herbert outqualified Häkkinen on fourteen occasions. His most productive Lotus season was 1993, when he finished fourth three times.
Tom Walkinshaw bought out Herbert's Lotus contract late in 1994, moving him first to Ligier and then to Benetton for the final rounds. He was retained as Michael Schumacher's teammate for the 1995 season, though the Benetton B195 was built specifically around Schumacher's style and the champion refused to allow Herbert access to his telemetry.
Herbert took his first podium of 1995 with second place in Spain as Benetton recorded its first one-two finish since 1990. His first Formula One victory came at the British Grand Prix after Damon Hill and Schumacher collided, with rumours circulating before the race that he was about to be replaced by test driver Jos Verstappen. He followed that win with a second victory at Monza under similar circumstances. He finished fourth in the 1995 World Championship.
After Benetton dropped him, Herbert drove for Sauber from 1996 to 1998, scoring podiums at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix and the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. Moving to Stewart Grand Prix in 1999, he was frequently outqualified by teammate Rubens Barrichello but produced his third and final Formula One victory in the rain-affected European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. He also delivered what he later called his strongest performance since before his accident at the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix, where he finished fourth. His final season at the team — by then rebranded as Jaguar — ended when a suspension failure caused a heavy crash at Malaysia, and he was stretchered from the car.
Herbert's most celebrated achievement outside Formula One was winning the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans outright in a Mazda 787B, co-driven with Volker Weidler and Bertrand Gachot — the first and only overall Le Mans victory for a Japanese manufacturer. He also won the 2002 12 Hours of Sebring with Audi. In 2004 he and Jamie Davies won the Le Mans Endurance Series championship driving an Audi R8, taking victories at Monza and Spa.
He won the inaugural 2008 Speedcar Series and competed in the British Touring Car Championship in 2009 for Team Dynamics in a Honda Civic.
From 2012 to 2022 Herbert was a regular pundit on Sky Sports F1, appearing alongside Anthony Davidson, Damon Hill, Nico Rosberg, and Paul Di Resta. In 2013 and 2014 he mentored contestants on the ITV4 reality series GT Academy, guiding Gran Turismo players toward competing in the Dubai 24 Hour race. He also runs the annual Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge charity event.
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