Early years Gerhard Berger was born in
Wörgl, Austria. His father Johann owned a truck company, which Gerhard worked at, later being promoted to driver. Berger, a multiple race winner in European
Formula Three, moved up to Formula One in driving for the
ATS team. Shortly after entering Formula One, Berger was fortunate to have survived a serious road accident. A week after the 1984 season ended, he was driving home in his
BMW 323i through the hills above
Salzburg. Suddenly his car was rammed from behind, resulting in it cartwheeling off a cliff. Berger was at that time not wearing a seatbelt, and was thrown clear of the BMW through the rear window. By chance the first car on the crash scene was occupied by two surgeons specialising in back injuries. The doctors realised the extent of his injuries (a broken neck and some damaged bones in his back) and made sure he was not moved until special equipment arrived. Following emergency surgery, and a stay in hospital in
Innsbruck, he made a full recovery.
Ferrari For the 1987 season, Berger signed for
Ferrari, partnering the Italian
Michele Alboreto and replacing
Stefan Johansson. After mechanical failures robbed him of the chance to perform, Berger came on strongly in the latter half of 1987, winning the final two rounds of the season. The 1987
Ferrari F1/87 benefitted from the work of ex-McLaren designer
John Barnard although the car was designed by Austrian Gustav Brunner. Ferrari were back competing for race honours for the first time since mid-1985 from the
Hungarian Grand Prix onwards. Berger was running a close second to
Nigel Mansell at the Hungaroring before he was forced to retire. At Estoril for the
Portuguese Grand Prix Berger dominated the race from pole position before spinning in the latter stages to finish second after pressure from
Alain Prost. The Austrian then looked to be heading for a second consecutive victory at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit for the
Mexican Grand Prix as he once again dominated the race but mechanical problems forced him to retire when leading. Success at both
Suzuka and Adelaide for the
Japanese and the
Australian Grands Prix, including pole positions in both events and the fastest lap in
Adelaide, ensured Ferrari and Berger went into the winter season with boosted confidence and both team and driver were tipped as favourites for the 1988 Championship. As he had done to Fabi in 1986, Berger out-qualified teammate Alboreto 12–4 in 1987. Berger's wins also gave Ferrari its first back to back victories since the late
Gilles Villeneuve won the
Monaco and
Spanish Grands Prix in . at the
1988 Canadian Grand Prix In , the
McLaren team, with twice World Champion Alain Prost and the sensationally fast
Ayrton Senna dominated the season, winning 15 of the 16 rounds. The Honda V6 turbo engine in the
McLaren MP4/4, and
Lotus's
100T had superior fuel efficiency to the Ferrari, which caused both Berger and Alboreto to often drive much slower than possible in races. Berger was the only driver to break the McLaren stranglehold in 1988, winning the
Italian Grand Prix after Senna tangled with
Jean-Louis Schlesser, who had temporarily replaced Nigel Mansell (who was sick with
chicken pox) in the
Williams-
Judd. Alboreto made it a Ferrari 1–2, finishing only half a second behind the Austrian. This was a particularly poignant victory for the team, as it came just weeks after the death of
Enzo Ferrari. Berger was also the only non-McLaren to take pole in 1988 when he sat on pole for the
British Grand Prix at
Silverstone. It was also the only race where both Ferrari cars were on the front row, with Alboreto qualifying only 0.199 behind his teammate. The
Ferrari F1/87/88C proved troublesome for both Berger and teammate Alboreto especially in terms of fuel consumption from the 1.5 litre turbo engine (Ferrari, unlike the Japanese, had not built a new engine for the season to cope with the lower fuel limit of 150 litres and the lower 2.5 Bar turbo limit, instead fronting with an updated version of their 1987 engine). At the very wet British Grand Prix for instance, Berger led the opening laps from Senna having already attained pole position, consequently building a large cushion over the rest of the field before having to slow just to finish (at the halfway mark he was in second place, 50 seconds in front of 3rd placed Nigel Mansell). Ultimately he finished in ninth position, having fallen from fifth after running out of fuel coming out of the Woodcote chicane on the last lap, with Alboreto already having run out of fuel 3 laps from the finish. In the space of 200 metres, Berger was passed by
Nelson Piquet (Lotus),
Derek Warwick and
Eddie Cheever (Arrows) and
Riccardo Patrese (Williams). Both Ferrari drivers were often forced to use the lowest turbo boost setting they had (approximately 2.0 bar) and reduce their engine's revs in order to get the cars to the finish of a race. Until changes were made to the Ferrari's V6 engine late in the season, this meant that Berger and Alboreto were often vulnerable to attack from the leading
atmospheric cars, with Berger estimating that he could often only use of the car's available during a race if he wanted to finish. Berger was leading the final race of the season at
Adelaide ahead of Prost and Senna before he clashed with former Ferrari driver
René Arnoux in the
Ligier while trying to lap the Frenchman. Before the race Berger, apparently with the full support of the team, told the McLaren drivers who qualified 1–2 in front of him that he was going to go all out and run as fast as he could without worrying about running out of fuel to give a good show for the fans. He did just that and after passing Senna for second on lap 3, he set numerous fastest laps before finally catching and passing Prost on lap 14. From there, he put some five seconds between himself and Prost before being taken out by Arnoux on lap 28. Berger out-qualified Alboreto in all 16 events for the 1988 Formula One calendar and in the eight races where they were both classified as finishers, finished behind Alboreto only once in
France, spelling the end for the Italian after five seasons with the Maranello outfit. For 1989, Berger was joined at Ferrari by Nigel Mansell. The
Ferrari 640 with its
V12 engine was fast but fragile, thanks in part to its revolutionary
semi-automatic gearbox designed by John Barnard. At the
Brazilian Grand Prix, Berger tangled with Senna at the first corner as the Brazilian found himself trapped between
Riccardo Patrese's Williams-
Renault to the left and Berger's Ferrari to the right, with the three drivers dicing for the lead. Berger was lucky to escape alive from a crash during the
San Marino Grand Prix at
Imola's Tamburello corner, where he went straight on into the wall at almost . The car spun multiple times along the wall before catching fire. It took 16 seconds for a rescue crew to reach the Ferrari and put the fire out. Suffering remarkably few injuries, notably burns to his hands and some broken ribs, Berger was able to make it back to the cockpit at the
Mexican Grand Prix after missing just the
Monaco Grand Prix. Berger attributed this to Ferrari's unique semi-automatic paddle-shift gearbox, saying that his return would have been delayed if Ferrari still used the traditional gear stick transmission used in all other F1 cars in 1989. With the exception of the
Australian Grand Prix where both Ferrari drivers had poor qualifying sessions, Berger featured in the top four in qualifying and races in all of the remaining Grands Prix but poor reliability and accidents meant that he only finished three races all year (by mid-season the problem with the
semi-automatic transmission was found to be not enough power from the battery which was fixed with the help of team sponsor, electrical experts Magneti Marelli). His first points of the year didn't come until he finished in second place in Round 12 at the
Italian Grand Prix. He won the next race in
Portugal which was overshadowed by the accident involving Mansell and Senna, and then finished second at the next race in
Spain. These races were in fact his only points scored for the year but was still enough to give him 7th in the championship after being third in 1988. The improvement in form from Ferrari came too late though. At the
British Grand Prix it was announced that Alain Prost would leave McLaren at the end of the season to join the Scuderia while Berger decided to sign for McLaren who, with their Honda V10 engines, was at the time the best and fastest team in Grand Prix racing.
McLaren From 1990 to 1992, Berger joined Ayrton Senna at McLaren. His arrival was met with great anticipation as he had proven great form for Benetton and Ferrari. A
McLaren-
Honda seemed to offer Berger a genuine chance at the world championship for the first time. However, although generally quicker than his predecessor Alain Prost in relation to Senna in qualifying (he often qualified 2nd behind Senna), he was rarely able to match the Brazilian's pace during races. He took three wins in these three seasons, gifted the
1991 Japanese Grand Prix by Senna; as well as victories in
Canada and
Australia in 1992. During his three years at McLaren, Berger also obtained four pole positions and out-qualified Senna eight times. at the
1991 United States Grand Prix His debut at McLaren ruffled feathers, as he outqualified Senna for the
1990 United States Grand Prix obtaining pole position. Initially, Berger complained of a lack of space in the
McLaren MP4/5B for the 1990 season, which had been designed in 1988/89 for the shorter Senna and Prost. At the
1990 Canadian Grand Prix Berger finished first, around 45 seconds ahead of the eventual winner Senna, but was penalized by one minute for creeping at the start before the green lights. Berger also started from pole position at the
1990 Mexican Grand Prix. In 1990, Berger failed to win a race for his new team, while teammate Senna won the Drivers' Championship for the second time. Towards the end of 1991, Berger found his form in the
McLaren MP4/6 – a car he was able to fit in better than the MP4/5B, out-qualifying teammate Senna at the
Portuguese,
Spanish and the title deciding
Japanese Grands Prix (claiming pole position in the latter two events). In 1992, Berger won the
1992 Canadian Grand Prix having overtaken
Riccardo Patrese's Williams and attacking teammate Senna before the Brazilian retired. During the
1992 Portuguese Grand Prix, Berger was involved in an incident with the Williams of Patrese. Patrese did not realize that Berger was heading towards the pitlane touched the McLaren's rear wheel and went airborne, narrowly missing a bridge, before coming to a halt in front of the armco of the pitlane. Berger then went on to win the
Australian Grand Prix for the second time after a battle with Patrese. Berger therefore won his last race for McLaren and McLaren's last race with Honda engines. A lucrative offer from Ferrari proved too tempting for Berger who announced before the
1992 Belgian Grand Prix that he would be returning to the struggling Italian outfit. According to former McLaren mechanic (Senna's chief mechanic in 1988) and the head of McLaren's gearbox shop from 1990-2006 Neil Trundle, Berger's nickname with the McLaren mechanics was "Gearhard" due to the number of gearboxes he broke in comparison to Senna.
Return to Ferrari at
Montreal in 1995 Berger was persuaded by Ayrton Senna (who told him that Honda would leave Formula One at the end of the 1992 season, leaving McLaren without a works engine for the 1993 season) and also by his countryman
Niki Lauda to return to the Italian team in 1993 as Lauda felt Berger brought valuable experience with him from his partnership with Senna. The active ride suspension made the car unpredictable to drive and the
Ferrari F93A failed to record a single victory and spent the majority of the season competing for the lower points. Berger's best result was third position at the
1993 Hungarian Grand Prix. Berger had a number of spectacular incidents during the season including a clash with
Michael Andretti at the start of the
1993 Brazilian Grand Prix and a dramatic impact with the armco at the
1993 Portuguese Grand Prix having just exited the pits. The
1993 Monaco Grand Prix was perhaps where Berger displayed his fighting qualities best of all, obtaining second fastest lap before he attempted an opportunistic move on
Damon Hill's Williams at Loews hairpin while challenging for second position. The Austrian was forced to retire. In 1994, Berger recovered from the deaths of close friend Senna and countryman
Roland Ratzenberger at the
1994 San Marino Grand Prix, to score an emotional win at
Hockenheim for the
1994 German Grand Prix in the
Ferrari 412T, the first win for Ferrari since the
1990 Spanish Grand Prix. Berger also scored two pole positions in 1994, the first at Hockenheim and then at Estoril for the
1994 Portuguese Grand Prix where he retired from while leading. Berger was also in the lead at the final round at the
1994 Australian Grand Prix when he made a mistake, letting his former teammate Nigel Mansell pass and win for Williams. A final season with the team in 1995 saw Berger score a number of podiums and was in a race winning position at the
1995 San Marino Grand Prix having qualified second before stalling in the pits but the fastest lap was a mere consolation. A particularly audacious pass on Damon Hill in Canada was just one example of his strong racecraft. Berger produced another aggressive drive for third having received a ten-second stop-go penalty for a jump start and then climbing up through the field from 14th position at the
1995 German Grand Prix, making a number of overtakings on the way. At
Monza both Ferrari drivers were in contention for the win, when an on-board camera on
Jean Alesi's Ferrari fell into the path of Berger and smashed the Austrian's front suspension after damaging Alesi's car. The departure of both Alesi and Berger from Ferrari to Benetton also spelt the end of the number 27 and 28 era for Ferrari that stretched back to 1981 with
Gilles Villeneuve and
Didier Pironi only interrupted by the signing of 1989 world champion
Alain Prost for the 1990 season.
Final seasons with Benetton With the arrival of
Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1996, Berger moved back to
Benetton, although the team lost the competitiveness of the previous years. He could have remained at Maranello, but felt that the new Ferrari V10 engine would take too much time to develop. Berger spent his final two years in the sport at the team he drove for in 1986 while also sporting a revised helmet design, with the Austrian flag being rotated horizontally. 1996 proved to be a disappointing season for the Austrian, the handling characteristics of the
Benetton B196 not being to his taste. Berger nearly won the German Grand Prix for the second time in his career before his Renault V10 engine blew up, handing victory to Damon Hill in the Williams. Berger's main problem for the early part of 1996 was his driving position that prevented a smooth airflow into the airbox. Consequently, Berger was significantly slower down the straights than teammate Jean Alesi. The
Benetton B197 had a lacklustre opening to the 1997 season at
Melbourne but the team and Berger bounced back at the
1997 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Berger finishing second having overtaken
Mika Häkkinen and
Michael Schumacher. Berger then scored Benetton's final Grand Prix victory at the age of 37, again at
Hockenheim, coming back after a three race layoff following a
sinusitis surgery and the death of his father in a light aircraft accident. As well as the victory, Berger also claimed pole position and fastest lap during the
1997 German Grand Prix. He announced his decision to leave Benetton at the end of the season during the same weekend. He eventually retired at the end of the season, his final race seeing him finish a very close fourth in Jerez only seconds behind the victor Mika Häkkinen. In his final season as a Formula One driver, Berger and Alesi out-qualified each other 7 times each with the Austrian missing three races due to illness. Rumours of a Ferrari return for 1998 were false.
Sauber offered Berger a drive for 1998 to partner Alesi, but the Austrian turned down the offer for a number of reasons, not least because of the new regulations for grooved tyres which the Austrian did not find inspiring. ==Off-track activities==