page_title: Gerhard Berger
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Gerhard Berger / Career / Early years
caption_attribution_description: Gerhard Berger driving for Benetton at the 1986 Detroit Grand Prix.
context_page_description: Gerhard Berger is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship, both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, achieved 48 podiums, 12 poles and 21 fastest laps. With 210 starts he is amongst the most experienced Formula One drivers of all time. He led 33 of the 210 races he competed in and retired from 95 of them. His first and last victories were also the first and last victories for the Benetton team, with eleven years separating them. He was also a race winner with Ferrari and with McLaren. When at McLaren, Berger drove alongside Ayrton Senna, contributing to the team's 1990 and 1991 constructors titles.
  Between 2006 and 2008 Berger owned 50% of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team. In 2008 Red Bull became the 100% owner of Toro Rosso having bought back the 50% stake it sold to Berger two years before.
context_section_description: Gerhard Berger was born in Wörgl, Austria. His father Johann worked in his own truck company with Gerhard later working for his father and before being promoted to a driver. Berger, a multiple race winner in European Formula Three, moved up to Formula One in 1984 driving for the ATS team.
  Berger was fortunate to be alive after a serious road accident shortly after entering Formula One. A week after the 1984 season ended, he was driving home in his BMW 323i through the hills above Salzburg when his car was rammed from behind, resulting in it cartwheeling off a cliff. Berger, at that time not wearing the seatbelt, was thrown clear of the BMW through the rear window. By chance, the first car on the crash scene was occupied by two surgeons who specialised 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.
  A full season for Arrows followed in 1985, though both Berger and teammate Thierry Boutsen were hampered by the Arrows A8 which was not the best chassis on the grid and did not allow either to exploit the immense power of the BMW M12 engine. Although he had some good drives (including running 6th in France), Berger would finish the season in 20th place having scored 3 points in the last two races of the year in South Africa and Australia.
  It was not until joining Benetton in 1986 that his F1 career took off. Finally in a car that allowed him to exploit both his talent and the exceptional power of the BMW turbo engine (1,400 bhp (1,044 kW; 1,419 PS) in qualifying in 1986), coupled with a clever Pirelli tyre strategy, Berger won his first Grand Prix in Mexico using the Benetton B186. Berger was also on course for an easy victory at his home race, the 1986 Austrian Grand Prix before being forced into the pits from a comfortable lead with a flat battery. Berger out-qualified teammate Teo Fabi 12–4 in 1986 though Fabi, who as a Rookie had qualified on the pole for the 1983 Indianapolis 500, took pole at the faster Österreichring and Monza circuits. Berger established himself as a very fast driver in Formula One that year, recording the fastest speed trap of the season, clocking an incredible 351.22 km/h (218.23 mph) at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. This remains the fastest straight line speed attained by a turbocharged car in the first turbo era.
  Berger was also successful in Group A touring cars during this time, racing for the highly rated German Schnitzer BMW team, driving the highly competitive BMW 635 Csi in the European Touring Car Championship. He won the 1985 Spa 24 Hours partnering Italian touring car ace Roberto Ravaglia and fellow Formula One driver, Marc Surer of Switzerland.
  Until the mid-1980s when teams began stopping their drivers competing in other categories of racing (primarily due to the risk involved), it was not uncommon for a Grand Prix driver to race in sports and touring cars. However, by 1985 Formula One drivers were not permitted race in any other category within 24 hours of the start of a Grand Prix. At the season ending 1985 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, Berger had to obtain permission from the FIA, FOCA, and from Arrows team to race in a Group A touring car race which was a support category for the weekend. He needed the permission as the Grand Prix was scheduled to start at 2 pm on Sunday, 3 November and the Group A race was to start at 3 pm on the Saturday. Driving an ex-Schnitzer BMW 635 CSi (that had finished 2nd behind his own at the Spa 24 Hours) for Australian racing legend and millionaire Bob Jane, Berger qualified 2nd on the grid but his race lasted just 3 laps before he was punted into the gravel trap at the end of the pit straight by the Holden Commodore V8 of local veteran John Harvey.
caption: Berger driving for Benetton at the 1986 Detroit Grand Prix
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