TV and Radio interviews: Monaco GP

The following interviews with Johnny were conducted or shown during the 1998 Monaco GP weekend.

Interview by Peter Windsor (shown on Fox TV in the USA)

PW: So Johnny, mega boat, Monte Carlo, did you think this was always going to happen, was this part of the big plan?

JH: I think it always was, yes, obviously. It was something I always aimed at doing was Formula One. I set myself goals of, first of all I said, Le Mans, Indianapolis, and Formula One. That was really the three things. And I think coming into Formula One and coming here, ya know, this is one of the special Grands Prix of the year. And it's... it's fantastic always coming back here. It's got a really good atmosphere.

PW: When was the first time you thought about being a race driver and decided that this is what you wanted to do?

JH: Well, when I started sort of getting into carts when I was about 5 or 6 years old. My uncle used to run a go-kart track down in the south of England, in Cornwall. And I used to just go on there because he ran it. I used to go round all day long and every day. And my my dad bought me a really old... a really old car. The petrol tank was up above your ear. And then when I was about 10, I think that's when I really started thinking about Formula One.

PW: And then you had a very meteoric successful career in Formula 3 and then the horrendous accident in 3000. Do you still have any after effects from that?

JH: Well, I get the odd day when it's sort of damp that they - my right foot mainly because the joint got smashed completely and I don't have, I can't remember what it's called now - it's like the suspension within your joints - and I don't have that anymore. So the bones rub together and then I get a bit of an ache.

PW: I've got a shot here of you and a very odd looking Eddie Jordan, I guess after your win at the British grand prix. Was that one of your shining moments?

JH: Yeah. I think so. Well again, with Eddie because as he always says to me, he says, "I made you." I always say, I pass it back because when I won the Formula 3 championship with him and then we won the first race in 3000, it's... "I made you!" So I give it back to him. But, you know, Eddie doing this sort of thing... after the British grand prix... and being that I won it on this particular occasion, it was even more special. It's a good occasion.

PW: You have actually got a very big fan base in America.

JH:[bursts in laughter] Got that one, now. I get a lot of letters and I get a lot of e-mail on my web site, www.johnnyherbert.co.uk..., I think.

PW: Well there you go.

JH:Yeah, there you go.

PW: Good commercial. [David: It was too!]

JH:And, ahh, yeah, we get a lot of that and it is quite good. And I think some of it is to do obviously with the accident and getting back into it. It's sort of a nice story.

PW: Sure, thanks, Johnny.

JH: Thank you.

Thanks to Lonnie Rowell and Ron Bennet for transcribing and checking the above interview

Interview by Peter Slater on BBC Radio 5, 23rd May

PS: What made you up sticks and move to Monaco?

JH: Surprisingly the obvious one, the money side of it. It was something that we decided - we would come here. The tax was one thing. It was a big compromise. We either stay in England and pay the tax, or move to Monaco where the weather is better, but we know it's going to be a lot harder to live here for Becky away from her family and friends at home. And she does find it very difficult, but it's part of the sacrifice we have to make. She doesn't get back to England much just because the girls are at school here. The other thing that helps us to come here are my two daughters learning French. They learn it at a younger age here and we just think that it would be beneficial to learn the language and a different culture.

PS: But if you are going to be a tax exile, which you are, I suppose you could have chosen like Damon does to live in Ireland or the Channel Islands or somewhere else. Part of the reason for coming here is that it's fairly central to Europe where you do a lot of your testing and a lot of your work.

JH: Well, again that was something else. I can drive from here to Switzerland, which is where my team was when we came here, so that was another reason why we may as well come here. The weather was one thing. We would have gone to Ireland or Jersey but the weather is like England - so you may as well go somewhere the weather is maybe better. We learn the French language for the girls - which at the moment I'm doing badly at - and it's things like that, which made us chose somewhere like here.

PS: I think I would miss the space Johnny as much as anything. We talked about the square mile; it's all concrete isn't it? It's hard to find any space at all. Do you get away from it - do you go away from the place quite a lot?

JH: Well we try to. Again it's difficult because I'm always away myself anyway. For Becky at home, it's always trying to get her out and across to France. There are very nice areas of France not too far away - towards St Tropez - and its helpful, but it's always a bit of a pain. You've got to pack things, get into the car and drive out and come back that night. It's another sacrifice.

We came from living in a four-bedroom barn conversion with a garden in the middle of a field and it was all very nice, but here we have got an apartment and the only light that you get is from the lights. You don't get daylight coming in even when the sun out. You have got the balcony then it's about 6 to 8 feet before the window starts so you get no sun in the room at all. There again that is something that is very different and sometimes difficult. You are inside all of the time with unnatural light that's lighting everything up and it can sometimes be very depressing from that point of view.

PS: It's supposed to be all glamour down here though. You're not exactly painting the picture of the glamorous life style.

JH: If you come here just for the Grand Prix or a week or two on holiday it's fantastic because the weather's normally quite nice (although we've got a cloudy day today). There is a lot to do here. But if you live here and you are stuck in here it's more difficult to do anything different. There's only a couple of kilometres square. There is not that much more you can do. It is a very nice place and the weather is very nice and generally the people are very nice, if you get the right ones, and it is a very famous place at the same time.

Thank you to Pete and Carol Aisthorpe-Buckley for transcribing the above interview.

Louise Goodman on ITV's "Murray & Martin Show", 23rd May

[Strolling in a Monaco park chatting to Johnny with his young daughters, Chloe and Aimelia (who are riding donkeys)]

LG: How old were the girls when you moved down here?

JH: Well, they're 8 and 5 now, so... two years younger!

LG: They go to school here?

JH: Yeah... it's above the Stars & Bars in the paddock. The kids love it there.

LG: Is it very difficult trying to bring up a family away from home?

JH: Well it is, but... one of the decisions for coming here was the obvious one...

LG: What was that then, Johnny?!

JH: The... er... the... tax! You've heard of that one?!

LG: I thought it was the usual ones people say - the weather, the food is good...!

JH: Oh, I've done it wrong then! But the weather is another reason. We could have gone to Ireland or Jersey but sometimes the weather is miserable there. Another thing was bringing the girls to another culture, another language which they can learn as well.

LG: It is said that, when you have a child, it can affect your driving.

JH: Yeah, I've heard that, but it doesn't make any difference whatsoever. The family thing almost gives you an incentive to do better because you want to try to look after them, their education, for the future. I think it's the other way round. Saying... oh, you've got kids, you don't want to hurt yourself or even kill yourself - you'd see that in the performances which would go way, way off and then you wouldn't have a job for the following year anyway.

LG: What do the girls think - do they come to the races?

JH: No - they know what I do, but they don't really... well, they're just not interested I suppose! They'd rather ride a donkey or a horse than come to see me at a race track!

When Louise asked the girls who their favourite racing driver was, the (shy) response was, of course - "Daddy!"

Thank you to Sauber for the photo.
This page prepared 5th June 1998.