Gerhard
Berger

Gerhard Berger was born in Wörgl, Austria, in 1959. He first made his name in European Formula Three, where he won several races. He made his Formula One debut with ATS in 1984, contesting four races, and drove for Arrows in 1985, finishing 20th in the championship. That year he also won the Spa 24 Hours in a BMW 635 CSi, sharing the car with Roberto Ravaglia and Marc Surer.

In 1986 he moved to Benetton and won the Mexican Grand Prix for his first victory. He joined Ferrari in 1987 and won the last two races of the season, in Japan and Australia. In 1988 he won at Monza, the only race that year not taken by McLaren, took pole position at Silverstone and finished third in the championship. In 1989 he survived a crash at Imola and missed only the Monaco Grand Prix. He won in Portugal and finished seventh in the standings.

From 1990 to 1992 Berger drove alongside Ayrton Senna at McLaren and played a part in the team's constructors' titles in 1990 and 1991. He won three times for them: in Japan in 1991, then in Canada and Australia in 1992. He also took four pole positions with the team.

Berger returned to Ferrari in 1993. The year brought no win, his best result being third in Hungary. In 1994 he won at Hockenheim, Ferrari's first victory since the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix, and again finished third overall. He went back to Benetton for 1996 and 1997. At Hockenheim in 1997 he took pole position, fastest lap and the win, the team's final Grand Prix victory, eleven years after its first, which had also been his. He finished fourth in his last race at Jerez and then retired.

Berger made 210 starts, with 10 wins, 12 pole positions and 48 podiums. As BMW's competitions director he oversaw the manufacturer's return to Formula One in 2000 and was a regular presence in the pit lane in that role until 2003. From 2012 to 2014 he presided over the FIA Single Seat Commission, and in 2017 he became chairman of ITR, the promoter of the DTM.

Source: Wikipedia, “Gerhard Berger”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.