Johnny Herbert Q&A

Sky Sports F1 HD pundit Johnny Herbert on stewarding, Hamilton's future, Lotus's form and more...

Johnny on the hot F1 topics... You've been a steward at two Grands Prix so far this season, is it something you enjoy?
Johnny Herbert: "I've enjoyed the stewarding because when I raced a lot of the stewards at that time really had no idea what it was like to drive a racing car. So I think what it adds now is the driver element of understanding what's going on and how a driver thinks, and even to a certain extent how the team thinks. "So I think what it does give to the stewarding itself is credibility - that was something that was lacking a little bit for drivers and probably lacking equally for the teams. So having a driver there that understandings what goes on, they do like as well. But the enjoyment from my point of view, I enjoy it a lot." So how has the standard of stewarding changed since when you were racing?
JH: "The biggest change is the stewards that used to do it, there were a couple of them who were very good and there some others that as soon as you walked in the door you were not even allowed to open your mouth to explain what had happened on the track. They'd already made their judgement on what had happened, you never was allowed to explain. "But what is different now is everyone has their time to give their explanation and because there is that driver in there, there are certain situations - maybe a racing incident - where a driver can just give his side of what he thinks it's like on that particular situation. Everyone is going to have their own opinion on certain things, but I think that overall it makes the stewarding much more consistent." After what happened in Bahrain involving Nico Rosberg, what do you expect will happen in Spain regarding any fall-out over the stewards' interpretations on drivers defending position?
JH: "From my experience what I would imagine, which would be interesting, is what will happen in that drivers' briefing itself. Will Fernando [Alonso] bring anything up regarding what happened with him? Lewis [Hamilton] - I don't know if he will because he did actually do the pass [on Rosberg]. "The drivers do have to make a discussion with themselves and with Charlie [Whiting] as well. I don't know how they will deal with it because it may stay as it is at the moment. I suppose we're going to have to wait and see what happens." Lotus obviously did very well in Bahrain and they also did very well in testing at Mugello, do you think they can win in Spain?
JH:"They have a chance. It's funny, I was speaking to Anthony Davidson last week and he thinks that the circuit isn't so bad with the tyres, but I personally think it actually will be. I know the surface has changed a little bit but I think the way that the window of these tyres seems to be working at the moment that there is still going to be an issue. "That window, I think, will be key and Lotus do seem to have a car, and the drivers and maybe the engineers as well, with an understanding of how to get that tyre in that window. I think they've shown speed all the way through the season so far, but it just clicked together properly in Bahrain. "So I think yes [they can win]. From what we saw in Mugello, I think they can actually move forward in a positive way But it's not going to be a simple one. We can all see how the championship is at the moment. There's no guarantee that the guys that you expect to be quick - let's say Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Red Bull seem to be back on course, I don't think they're properly back on course yet because I think the predictability is so varied at the moment, I don't think anybody can make the call. "But the guys that have been probably been the most consistent, strangely enough, have been Lotus in many ways." Do you think Felipe Massa will get to see out the season at Ferrari
JH: "Well, there still seems to be a lot of support and Fernando still seems to be backing him as well from what I've read. From that point of view, he did his best result of the season - which is only ninth place - in Bahrain, which to be honest is where he has been quite good at in the past. "But he just has to up his game and I imagine there will be a certain time that the pressure of the Italian Ferrari fans will get to a point where they all, sadly, have to make a call on it. You can either stick with him until the end of the year; yes, they haven't got the best car, as Fernando said, at the moment so it doesn't really matter who else you have in the car because it's a difficult car to drive. But there will always be 'well he's a lot further behind Alonso than maybe it should be'. "So it's really going to be down to if he can do a good job. Now Spain's coming up, he has won there before, so it could be an opportunity for him to get some results going now because it is important for his career and personally but also for Ferrari as well. They, potentially, looked more competitive at Mugello so maybe he can utilise that sort of potential to do a better job. But I think, yes, he needs to put in some proper points scoring results which he started with that ninth in Bahrain but he's got to do a little bit better than that." Lewis Hamilton's deal with McLaren expires at the end of this season - do you think it's time he moved on?
JH: "Well, if you're basing it on what we have so far this season, it would be one of those things where you're thinking 'right, okay, you potentially want to move on', but where would you go? "It's a very hard thing to call at the moment and the way McLaren have been in his time there, and in previous years, McLaren have always been there or thereabouts. They have always been a team that develops very well during the season. They still potentially have a championship-winning car - so from that point of view would you want to move? "He's pretty much cemented into the core of the team and I think he's with one of the best, if not the best, team that can give him the car that he can win another world championship with. "He could quite possibly do that this season, so I think it's a very hard thing to say - is it the right time for him to move on? In my heart, no it's not, because McLaren are in a very good position at the moment to possibly give him a second world championship. "So it's a hard thing to read, especially this season. There's no guarantee if he chooses to go to Ferrari or Red Bull, for example, that they are the place to be." It was the 18th anniversary of Ayrton Senna's death last week, who would you compare to him in the current field?
JH: "It's a difficult one because each driver, let's say the top four - Sebastian, Alonso, Lewis and Jenson - they've all got different things in there. From the 'edginess' point of view, which I think Ayrton was very good at, especially in his qualifying runs, Fernando and Lewis are the edgy-type drivers. "Of the thinking-type drivers, which Ayrton had a very good racing brain, you've got Jenson because he's very good at thinking on his feet and making decisions, and Sebastian. They're very good racers - Ayrton was very good in qualifying but good in the race. "What those four have is they've all got little bits of what Ayrton had. If I was to say the guy who's got the closest complete package, and I still think it's very impressive, it's Michael because Michael even still to this day has that ultimate qualifying [pace], race craft, thinking on his feet. "I'm surprised in many ways that others haven't taken what Michael has shown in the past. If he would actually be able to achieve what he achieved in the past again, I think it's a different situation with those young drivers who are out there now. But there isn't anybody who has got the full package of what Ayrton had."