Gerhard Berger: The Motor Sport Interview

Austrian Gerhard Berger is a man who knows all about what it’s like to start a new life aboard the Prancing Horse at Maranello. It was at Ferrari that he had some of the best moments of a long and successful career in grand prix racing.

The first of his two stints at Ferrari came in 1987, after a single season at Benetton, summoned by Enzo himself. A huge accident at Imola in ’89 was his worst ever and he left at the end of the season to join McLaren alongside Ayrton Senna.

He returned to Ferrari in 1993 and the following season he won the German Grand Prix in the Scuderia’s 412 T, the team’s first win since 1990. A move back to Benetton in 1996, when Michael Schumacher had arrived at Ferrari, saw him complete two more seasons before he retired at the end of 1997 having won 10 grands prix and stood on the podium 48 times in his 13 years at the pinnacle of the sport.

Known for his highly developed sense of humour and fearless driving, Berger remains a hugely popular figure in the F1 paddock. He takes us back to his years at Ferrari and assesses where the Italian team stands ahead of the arrival of Lewis Hamilton for the upcoming season.

Motor Sport: Let’s start with Ferrari as it is today, the prospect of Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc. Everyone is talking about it and some wonder why Carlos Sainz was replaced.

GB: Yes, they had two good drivers, but Lewis has something that could be really quite valuable for Ferrari. He is seven times world champion, still very competitive, and the strongest of all the drivers in terms of marketing and image, especially in North America, and Ferrari is the biggest name of all the teams. He will bring a lot of experience, a lot of momentum, and maybe some guys will come from other teams to work with him. Engineers love to work with a guy who is seven times a champion. If he is successful, if he wins the championship, that will be the biggest thing ever in Formula 1. It doesn’t really matter if he is quicker than Leclerc or not, what matters is can he bring enough points for another championship?

He will be a motivator, it will be positive for Ferrari. Also, it’s great for Leclerc to have the chance to compete against a seven times champion. He may be a little bit quicker, so if he does better than Hamilton then that’s great for his CV. It’s about who is better all round, not about who is faster, and Lewis knows what to do, how to win. He needs to smell that the day is a winning day to get fully motivated and he hasn’t always been in that situation recently – but he’s been so long in the business, and that will count.

What is it about Ferrari? Why do so many drivers want to go there? What was it for you so early in your career?

GB: It was a totally emotional decision. I was one of those drivers attracted by Ferrari, maybe it’s the same for Lewis. It was the name, the history, the race cars, the road cars of the 1960s, ’ 70s and ’80s. Ferrari was the pinnacle, different to any other team and it’s still the same today. Maybe it was more in my time but it’s still there. I mean they’ve been in Formula 1 since day one and it’s just that special atmosphere, that feeling.

“Ferrari was the pinnacle, different to any other team“

Benetton was super lovely. I was happy there. It was a small team, like a family with Rory Byrne and Peter Collins. They supported me, and the ’86 car was bloody good – but Ferrari was another league altogether, another level. It was nothing to do with the performance of Benetton: Rory was brilliant, Peter Collins knew how to work with me, I loved working with them, but again Ferrari was so special. I could not resist that opportunity. Also, I knew John Barnard was moving there. He’s a clever guy, and I thought he would sort out any mess that might be at Ferrari at that time.

Was Ferrari everything you had hoped it would be?

GB: Yes, it was a wonderful time, and it was my first top team. I never did karting, started racing cars when I was 21, and by 24 I was in Formula 1. Three years later I am at Maranello. Unbelievable, and they would become like a family to me.

When you went there for the first time in 1987 you had been summoned by Enzo himself. How did that come about while you were at Benetton in ’86?

GB: There was a race at Imola, the San Marino Grand Prix, and I had overtaken Stefan Johansson’s Ferrari on the grass… The next day Marco Piccinini [Ferrari team principal] called me and said, “Mr Ferrari would love to meet you” – and would I go to Maranello? Well, I was living in Austria so I got in the car and we met at a petrol station outside Maranello. He [Piccinini] told me to lie down on the back seat of his car, covered me with a blanket and drove me to Fiorano where Enzo had his office.

He was sitting there at his desk, Piccinini on one side and Piero Lardi [aka Piero Ferrari, Enzo’s son] on the other, and his first question was did I have a manager? I said no, I didn’t, so he asked me if it would be OK for me to sign a contract, and I said yes, it would be. We talked about money but where I was coming from, I didn’t know if I should pay him or he should pay me. I was not used to taking money at that stage.

To be honest, if he’d asked me to bring some money I would have been happy to go out and find it to get a drive at Ferrari.

When you got there in ’87 did it feel different from other teams? Piccinini had started to ban the long paddock lunches, the pasta and the Lambrusco.

GB: Ha! Yes, but I thought it might have been John [Barnard] who wanted less of all that. He was very organised, and in some ways I understood why it was necessary. Wine makes you tired at lunchtime, you know. At night it’s fine, but the Italians have their own rules. It’s funny, we still talk about all that these days when it comes round to Ferrari at that time.

More importantly, Barnard brought the semi-automatic gearbox to the Ferrari 640 among other innovations. Was it difficult to get used to that system after a manual box?

GB: Not really. People had different opinions on its benefits. The first time I tested the car at Fiorano, I came in and told them I never wanted to go back to the manual. It was such a clear advantage, two hands on the wheel all the time, so better for reactions, especially in a place like Monaco. My team-mate Michele [Alboreto] felt differently. He didn’t like it, said he’d rather have the manual shift.

“It was difficult for Michele when this young Austrian turns up“

We had a good relationship but it was difficult for Michele when this young Austrian turns up and is mostly quicker than him and now he has opposition in the team. He was the Italian superstar, second to Alain Prost in the world championship in’ 85, and an Italian can always have a bit of an advantage at Ferrari. Not a big problem but when I looked at the telemetry one time I was down on power compared to him so when we tested at Imola they put me in Michele’s car, which confirmed his engine was stronger. From then on I never had this problem any more. We had 10 or 12 engines on race weekends and maybe there were differences of 3hp or whatever. It doesn’t really matter, it wasn’t like there were good engines and bad engines.

I know you had a lot of respect for John Barnard and his car proved to be very solid when you crashed at Imola.

GB: Yes absolutely, I have to thank John for building such a strong carbon-fibre chassis. I mean, I didn’t have any broken bones, just burns from the fire in that accident. I hit the concrete wall at Tamburello, straight on at 250kph. The car was full of fuel. It was a miracle how I escaped bad injuries.

I drove the 640 again at Goodwood last year, first time since I raced it, and I scared myself a bit even though it felt just as I remembered, the seat, the belts, the mirrors, the pedals, still a perfect fit after all those years. The fans loved it of course, sparks flying over the bumps, the sound of the V12, but I only did it because Charles (Duke of Richmond) invited me and I love those Goodwood events.

You had enjoyed your first stint at Ferrari so why did you move to McLaren in 1990?

GB: They had won so many races in ’88. I liked the way Ron Dennis ran the team, the perfection, and I wasn’t worried about having Ayrton as a team-mate. After three years at Ferrari it was a good time for something new. Ron always supported me, I had no problem with him. He said, “You are a diamond but we need to shape you. You’re going over the kerbs, going sideways, going too fast here and there, so look at Prost, he doesn’t touch the kerbs, doesn’t go sideways.” I tried to change but it didn’t work. I had my way, so when I tried to be like Alain it just made me slower. I was also looking at Ayrton to see why he was so quick so I lost my way. At Ferrari nobody told me how to drive.

“In my time at Ferrari I never had a problem with journalists“

Was it good for me to be teamed with Ayrton? Yes and no. Would I do it again? No. I always had the same equipment, same engine, but he was difficult to beat. At Ferrari I had this great relationship with my mechanic Giorgio Ascanelli. He knew exactly what I needed. The engineers at McLaren were different. They’d worked with Lauda, with Prost, a different generation. They would ask me, “What do you want to change, the rollbar, the spring, the wing?” I said, “I don’t know, this is your job.” So I went to see Ron, told him about this young engineer at Ferrari, Ascanelli, I think we should try to get him. Two months later he called me, he says, “I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?” He says, “I have got your man Ascanelli.” I thought, “Great, what’s the bad news?” “He says he will work with Ayrton.” I knew if I could work with Ascanelli I could be a pain for Ayrton. I have a good sense of humour but I still can’t laugh about this. I needed to get my act together, get the job done.

Why did you go back to Ferrari in 1993? The team was not in a good place at the time.

GB: It’s true, it was all a bit messy, but I knew Honda was leaving McLaren, they would have a Cosworth, and the last thing I needed was not having a winning car and being with Ayrton. Luca di Montezemolo and Niki Lauda were pushing to get me back and I liked the team so much, so let’s go back. You never know how good the car will be before the season, and it wasn’t good. Aerodynamics were becoming more and more important and we struggled with connecting properly the aerodynamics and the mechanical. Otherwise I got on well with Jean Todt, John Barnard was coming back, and it was a good contract. Me and Jean Alesi. Maybe Jean was missing a little in his concentration, but he was quick. He should have won more races. I loved him, and we are still friends today.

Is Fred Vasseur the right man to get another world championship for the team?

GB: Fred is like Jean Todt. He doesn’t get distracted by the politics or the media. He quietly gets the job done and I believe he is the right man for Ferrari. I would put some money on them for 2025. Everybody says there is too much pressure from the Italian media, all the expectations, but in my time there I never had a problem with journalists. It was a privilege, not a pressure, to have so much support from the fans.

Did you go back to Benetton in ’96 because Schumacher was arriving at Ferrari?

GB: I knew he was coming but I had my contract with Ferrari with an option to leave, so I went to see Jean Todt and said, “OK, Schumacher is coming, I take the challenge, but I want Ascanelli on my car.” Jean said he could not do that, so I left. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes I made when I was team-mate to Ayrton. I went back to Benetton but it wasn’t the same. Ross Brawn went to Ferrari with Schumacher, and I was not the same person. I was tired and getting towards the end of my career.

In 2006 you acquired a 50% share in Toro Rosso, which in a way was back to your roots because you had Ferrari engines.

GB: Yes, and I took Ascanelli with me too so that was also back to my roots. He was the engineer on Vettel’s car. Vettel was clever, grown up, the opposite to me in my early twenties. He never made the best of his time at Ferrari but nor did Alonso. I think the only two guys who really understood how to get the maximum from Ferrari were Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher. They brought the right people in, got everyone behind them, and they used all the facilities, working and testing all the time at Fiorano to achieve the best results for them.

Do you think grand prix racing would be the poorer without Ferrari on the grid?

GB: Yes, absolutely, 100%. No question. Ferrari is the soul of Formula 1. It’s the colour, the emotions, the Italians, the history, the winning, the losing, the whole story. Ferrari is Ferrari.