Herbert: 'I am the man'

The perky little Brit steered through the treacherous conditions that caught out more than half the grid to score his first victory in four years.

It is only his second points finish of the year in a season plagued with one misfortune after another, where the car's unreliability has often cost him good results.

'This is the payback for all the bad luck I have had this year,' said Herbert.

'All the other drivers risked grooved tyres but I used wets and it paid off.

'I was just lucky. It was a gamble, a guess, but it worked out great.

'I am gobsmacked. This is great and in many ways means more to me than the two wins at Benetton.'

He has not won since he scored two victories in 1995 at Monza and Silverstone as Michael Schumacher's team-mate and his lacklustre 1999 at Stewart had led to speculation he could even be dumped.

'My daughter Chloe has been getting stick at school for my results so when she called me on the mobile just after the race I told her she must go into school on Monday cheering.

'I am so pleased to be able to have given Jackie [Stewart] his first team win because it was looking like it would never happen with just three races left.'

'But I dedicate this race to my wife who has stood by me through all the hard times.

'I was just lucky, I saw a dark cloud and guessed it would rain again so I shouted 'wets' on the radio as I came in for my first stop and luckily it rained again briefly and stayed just wet enough to see me home.

'It was so great to win. As I crossed the line I shouted down the radio to the team 'I am the man'.'