Formula One Features — July 1995

Every year after the British Grand Prix there is a party in the paddock at Silverstone. And every year Johnny Herbert is up on stage for the annual rendition of Chuck Berry's "Go Johnny Go". This year it was special - because, against all the odds, Johnny had won the race amid scenes of delight and jubilation rarely seen in F1. Everyone was happy for the chirpy Englishman who has struggled through all kinds of adversity, and yet has always managed to keep smiling and joking. David Coulthard and Jean Alesi showed their affection for Johnny by spontaneously lifting him onto their shoulders so he could take the cheers of the crowd.

Rubens Barrichello doesn't look like a racing driver. He is short and rather tubby. He has sleepy eyes, a big nose and a huge lop-sided grin. Like most 22-year-old men his favorite film star is Julia Roberts and his ideal dinner date is Cindy Crawford. One can blithely write that Barrichello is young. He arrived in F1 at the age of 20, but the point doesn't really come across until you consider that when he arrived in Formula 1 was racing against 39-year-old "veteran" Riccardo Patrese. Riccardo began his F1 career on the day before Barrichello's fifth birthday...