Gerhard Berger
On August the 27th, 1959, Gerhard Berger was born in Worgl Austria and went on to become a major name in the world of Formula 1 racing. Berger has an incredible track record, having competed in 14 seasons of Formula One. His best ranking was his two third-placed season finishes during which he won ten Grand Prix races, made it to the podium 48 times, 12 poles and 21 fastest laps, two more than Ayrton Senna, a good friend of his. It can be said that Gerhard Berger is a F1’s most experienced driver in all of Formula One history with his 210 starts. He can also be merited with being the winner of Benetton’s first and last wins, with eleven years in between them.
With European Formula Three, Berger won numerous times and from there he moved to Formula One in 1984 and drove for the ATS team. In 1985 he joined the Arrows for one full season, but it was only when he made a move to Benetton-BMW the following year that his F1 career really went places. In 1986 he won his first Grand Prix in Mexico, which caught Ferrari’s eye and he was soon with them for the 1987 season. Gerhard managed to win the last two rounds of the season and was seen as the 1988 Championship favorite. But with the McLaren team made up of Prost and Senna, who won 15 of the total of 16 rounds, it was not to be.
Nigel Mansell joined Berger at Ferrari in 1989. However, the car failed to produce the needed results and Gerhard was fortunate to survive a fiery crash during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. Fortunately with relatively few injuries Berger was able to join from mid-season on. Then from 1990 to 1992 Berger moved to McLaren and joined Ayrton Senna, but Senna’s brilliant pace was difficult to match. Gerhard Berger was an immensely popular figure in Formula One and up until 2003 was seen in the pitlane as Competitions Director at BMW, overseeing their successful return in Formula One racing until 2006 when he took up shares with Scuderia Toro Rosso. He later sold his 50% share in the team back to Mateschitz in 2008.