Herbert and the revival of a racing marque – For those of us who came to Formula One before the advent of Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ series, the history of the sport has many fascinating cameos buried in the annuls. Lola is one of those and a blast from the past given their decades of successful racing was put to ruin when they joined F1 as a works team in 1997.
Lola began life as a merger between a rowing boat manufacturer and a carbon composites specialist. They were one of the top chassis suppliers in the 1960’ states building a variety of single seater race cars which competed in Formula Junior, Formula 3, Formula 2 and eventually in Formula 1.
Whilst not given full recognition in the film Ford v Ferrari, it was Lola to whom the American giant car manufacturer turned when they wanted to build a racing car to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. The resulting GT40 was designed and built in a matter of months and the cars made a statement at the first ever Daytona 24 hours in 1966 finishing 1-2-3.
Lola: the forgotten British racing marque
Then at the 12 hours race in Sebring, again the GT40’s filled the podium places and now eyes were on the upcoming showdown with Ferrari at the 24 hours of Le Mans. This proved to be another 1-2-3 although controversy surrounded the finish.
The leading GT40 of of Ken Miles and denny Hulme ran into problems in the closing stages of the race. The No.2 car with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon behind the wheel was closing in quickly and set to win the race.
Miles and Hulme had a lead of four laps over McLaren, but were forced to pitstop with faulty brakes. It was then discovered the number two team’s mechanics had taken the correct brakes for the Miles car de facto causing the issues for the number 1 GT40.
It was decided to orchestrate a dead heat between the two cars, which neither set of drivers were happy about, but the team management felt was an equitable solution.
2025 Mercedes driver contract intrigue
F1 and bust
Lola had a 30 year history of building successful racing cars for customers, often dominating certain racing categories for a number of years. But 1996 they took the decision to enter Formula One as a works team in two years time, but pressure from Mastercard forced the to debut one year earlier.
The F1 cars proved to be highly problematic as any fans from the 1990’s will fondly remember the sight of another smoking Lola parked up at the side of the circuit. The aerodynamics of the cars were never wind tunnel teated and the chassis was fundamentally flawed. Yet the team were confident they would finish not plumb last but the cars were so slow they had the pace of a Formula 3000 car.
This F1 adventure sent the business into receivership but it was rescued by Martin Birrane and returned to its core activity of building sports cars and junior single seaters. Now Lola has decided to take on Formula E with another works team and today it was announced sacked Sky F1 presenter and FIA driver steward Johnny Herbert will become their brand ambassador.
Herbert has been a driver steward for the FIA for a number of years since the role was created back in 2010 to provide the stewarding panel with a driver who has experience in top flight motorsport. Yet the former F1 British driver had a run in with the Verstappen’s in 2024 with Jos accusing him of a “conflict of interest.”
Verstappen controversy kicks off in Mexico
Following the uproar at the Mexico City Grand Prix over Max Verstappen’s on track battle with Lando Norris, which saw the world champion handed down two ten second penalties for driving offences on two consecutive corers.
The first was issued for forcing the McLaren driver off the track whilst the second was for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, something the Red Bull strategy team should have mitigated.
Only Kevin Magnussen has received this severity of punishment under the new guidelines this year which upped most of the previous five second time penalties to ten. Given Verstappen’s profile the harshness of this kind of penalty though became a reality for all watching and the paddock consensus was the stewards had probably been on the harsh side.
Johnny Herbert who Jos Verstappen had previously accused of being biased against his son decided he wold take it on himself to explain the stewarding decision, but his interview was fun of comment and opinion which lacked the independent analysis expected from a steward.
Wolff’s plan B should Antonelli fail
Herbert sacked for “conflict of interest”
“I am such a big fan of Verstappen and it frustrates me massively when he drives the way he did in Mexico,” Herbert told Action Network. “He doesn’t need to do it, he’s so good in the cockpit and at this point in the championship, he just needs to stay out of trouble and drive as well as possible.
“When Verstappen goes into this horrible mindset of trying to gain an advantage by taking a fellow driver off the race track so Ferrari can get the one-two, that’s where Verstappen needs to know he doesn’t have to do that. Just win in the cleanest possible way you can.”
Of course Herbert is making the assumption that Max had a master plan to nobble Lando Norris and make the win easier for Ferrari. Verstappen was asked for his take on the penalties after the race, and he suggested that they were not his main issue as he explained: “At the end of the day, if you agree with it or not, it doesn’t matter because the penalties are given.
“That was also honestly not my biggest problem of the race, my biggest problem was that we just had no pace. Just struggling a lot on the tyres, couldn’t really attack, and I couldn’t follow Ferrari and McLaren.”
To allege Max Verstappen had some Machiavellian plan to manipulate the race result is to fail ton understand the mess Red Bull had made of their in season development. The car was impossible to drive for Sergio Perez and only a driver of the world champions skill and class could continue to race amongst the front runners, but with a highly unpredictable car.
“A real asshole” Michael Schumacher unreal statement
Newey criticises Red Bull technical team
Adrian Newey called time on his longest run with a Formula One team during his long an illustrious career as an F1 car designer. After much speculation, Newey announced his departure from Red Bull Racing in May 2024 amid speculation of a rift between him and Christian Horner.
Whilst the reason behind the supposed trouble relationship was never properly explained, Horner and Newey were rarely see together during the entirety of last season but of course the expected platitudes were exchanged when Newey made public his deacons to ‘take a sabbatical.’
F1 historians will know Newey used a similar phrase when he decided he was leaving McLaren, then within weeks it was announced he would be joining Red Bull Racing back in 2006. Similarly this time around the ‘sabbatical’ was short lived once Lawrence Stroll had rolled out the red carpet and his bank account to secure the services of F1’s most successful designer… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
