13 Facts About Herbie Blash

Michael "Herbie" Blash was born on 30 September 1948 and is the Permanent Senior Advisor to the FIA Race Directors at Formula One races.

Herbie Blash then left Lotus after a walk-out and was employed by Frank Williams to his Politoys team.

From late 1995 until the end of 2016, Herbie Blash was the FIA Deputy Race Director at Formula One Grand Prix races.

When he was 17, Herbie Blash gained work at the RRC Walker Racing Team as a mechanic.

Herbie Blash worked alongside Jo Siffert and Jo Bonnier who had experience in Formula One.

In 1968, Herbie Blash became the race mechanic to Graham Hill at Lotus before working with Jochen Rindt a year later.

In 1973, Herbie Blash became the team manager for Brabham having worked on their Formula Two project.

Herbie Blash worked alongside owner Bernie Ecclestone and designer Gordon Murray.

Brabham was sold to Swiss financier Joachim Luhti and Herbie Blash left to join FOCA for 1989.

Luhti would later be arrested and the Middlebridge Group bought the team and Herbie Blash returned as the Sporting Director to rebuild the team.

Herbie Blash's role helped to secure a supply of engines from Yamaha in 1991.

Herbie Blash was offered a job with Yamaha and joined the company as their sporting director, overseeing its relationships with Jordan and later Tyrrell.

Herbie Blash has worked with Yamaha for 30 years since the Brabham days and Activa Technology, and acts as a consultant to the Japanese company involved in their World Superbike race programme.