Herbert's Melbourne hell continues

Johnny Herbert's disastrous Melbourne weekend continued as he became the first retirement of the 2000 season.

His car cruised to a halt after problems developed with his clutch after just two corners.

"This has been the worst three days I have ever had," he said.

"It's very frustrating because when the car is running we have shown we can be very competitive.

"We came here with engine issues and we thought we had fixed them but we obviously haven't.

"I have got through quite a few engines - not blown up but with problems we know about.

"I had a great start but the clutch started to slip on turn two and it just got worse and worse as it heated up. That was the end of the race for me."

The Jaguar driver had a series of problems during the weekend which left him 20th on the start grid.

He completed just five laps in the pre-race warm-up to end up last in that session too.

Then things got even worse in the race.

Herbert had hoped to start the season with a strong performance because misfortune blighted most of last year after a poor start and he did not get the monkey off his back until winning the European Grand Prix three races from the end of the season.

shares
comments

Ferrari one-two in Australia

Bad luck robs Button of sixth-place

Why a Qatar sprint race coronation for Verstappen befits a dull 2023 F1 season

Why a Qatar sprint race coronation for Verstappen befits a dull 2023 F1 season

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Qatar GP
Matt Kew

Why a Qatar sprint race coronation for Verstappen befits a dull 2023 F1 season Why a Qatar sprint race coronation for Verstappen befits a dull 2023 F1 season

F1 folk: The 'lucky' engineer who guided Grosjean and helped build Haas

F1 folk: The 'lucky' engineer who guided Grosjean and helped build Haas

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Qatar GP
Oleg Karpov

F1 folk: The 'lucky' engineer who guided Grosjean and helped build Haas F1 folk: The 'lucky' engineer who guided Grosjean and helped build Haas

The salvation story behind Benetton's emergence as an F1 team

The salvation story behind Benetton's emergence as an F1 team

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Damien Smith

The salvation story behind Benetton's emergence as an F1 team The salvation story behind Benetton's emergence as an F1 team

Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers

Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Damien Smith

Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers Ranking the top 10 Benetton F1 drivers

When Mansell and Senna settled their differences in an F1 pitlane scuffle

When Mansell and Senna settled their differences in an F1 pitlane scuffle

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Belgian GP
GP Racing

When Mansell and Senna settled their differences in an F1 pitlane scuffle When Mansell and Senna settled their differences in an F1 pitlane scuffle

The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold

The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Jonathan Noble

The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold The F1 treasure map where Hamilton hopes Mercedes hits gold

The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Alex Kalinauckas

The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

How football has posed difficult questions for F1

How football has posed difficult questions for F1

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
GP Racing

How football has posed difficult questions for F1 How football has posed difficult questions for F1

Subscribe