Three-time Formula 1 grand prix winner Johnny Herbert has joined the recently rejuvenated Lola as a global brand ambassador and is set to play a key part in the firm’s business development and corporate ambitions.
The Race can reveal that Herbert, who was forced to step down as an F1 driver steward yesterday, has signed an agreement with Lola and will be included in both its Formula E programme and future projects.
Those could include a return to the Le Mans 24 Hours, where he won as a driver for Mazda in 1991, and also a move into additional alternative-fuelled motorsport.
Herbert was largely brought to Lola via his friendship with its chief commercial officer Keith Smout, who knew him from his F1 days in the 1990s.
“The nice thing for me is that Lola’s return is both a great news story for the motorsport industry and also it almost marries together different eras of racing,” Herbert told The Race.
“Lola’s heritage was all about where the engineers came from. They went through Lola, March, Reynard, etc. and at that time it was like a university for engineers.
“In 2025 it’s not only back, but it's back in one of the most innovative types of racing you can get – Formula E. And knowing Till [Bechtolsheimer, Lola owner], and guys like Keith this is just the start of a new technical adventure so it’s really exciting.
“For Till to come up with the idea to give it another chance to go back onto the racetrack, it's lovely to see. It's people like Till that we need to have around to bring these wonderful names back into motorsport and that's exactly what he's doing at the present time.”
Ironically Herbert’s junior career was more synonymous with Lola’s greatest customer car rival Reynard in the 1980s and 1990s.
Herbert took the 1987 British Formula 3 title in an Eddie Jordan-run Reynard and then competed in F3000 back in 1988 again with Jordan in a Reynard 88D. However, Herbert did test a Lola IndyCar for Dale Coyne in 2001 during his ultimately unsuccessful bid to break into American single-seater racing after his F1 career ended.
Herbert has visited several Formula E races in recent seasons and was in attendance at the Lola Yamaha Abt team’s first shakedown test at the Turweston Airfield last June.
He believes that its nascent Formula E programme with Lucas di Grassi and Zane Maloney this season will be a springboard for future success on the track and in business.
“Formula E has a massive place in motorsport and I like what I see when I watch it,” he said.
“It's entertaining, and that is probably its strongest point in addition to the technology that goes with it at the same time.
“The technology I find fascinating, and I always have.
“I think [Gen3Evo] looks a lot better and then another step will be Gen4 when it will get proper quick.
“When you think of Lola you think of the T70, the F5000 and F3000 cars, so it fits well with that sort of big, powerful single-seater philosophy and in that sense it was the perfect way for the Lola name to return.
“There's a lot of different aspects that, I think, my input will be an important part of in the whole dynamic to make sure that it's a success, and that’s why Till is doing it and using the name, and that's why Yamaha and Abt are coming on board at the same time.”
Although not detailed by the team itself, Herbert’s role may also incorporate using his experience with its driver roster too.
“For me, there's going to be different aspects to it; driver management is one that we've spoken about, something Lola never did before, so that's one element that we might get into; the ambassadorial side of it obviously will be what happens when we're at the racetrack, but it's being involved but in a constructive way which is what attracted me to the offer,” he added.
“It's not just being involved just to be around racing, I want to be a very important part of the delivery of success at the racetrack because that’s what I’ve always wanted when I’ve been part of great teams like Lotus, Benetton, Sauber, Stewart, Bentley and many others.”
