Gerhard Berger

Berger was born in Wörgl, Austria; his father Johann owned a truck company where Gerhard worked, later being promoted to driver. A multiple race winner in European Formula Three, he moved up to Formula One in 1984 driving for the ATS team. A week after the 1984 season ended he survived a serious road accident near Salzburg when his BMW was rammed from behind and cartwheeled off a cliff, throwing him clear; he suffered a broken neck and damaged bones in his back but, after emergency surgery, made a full recovery.

A full season for Arrows followed in 1985, where Berger and teammate Thierry Boutsen were hampered by the Arrows A8 chassis; he finished 20th with 3 points scored in the final two races in South Africa and Australia. Berger was also successful in Group A touring cars during this period, racing the BMW 635 CSi for the German Schnitzer team in the European Touring Car Championship, and won the 1985 Spa 24 Hours partnering Roberto Ravaglia and fellow Formula One driver Marc Surer.

Joining Benetton in 1986 transformed his Formula One career. In a car that exploited both his talent and the BMW turbo engine — quoted at 1,400 bhp in qualifying — coupled with a Pirelli tyre strategy, Berger won his first Grand Prix in Mexico in the Benetton B186. He was on course for victory at his home 1986 Austrian Grand Prix before a flat battery forced him into the pits. He out-qualified teammate Teo Fabi 12–4 that year and recorded the fastest speed trap of the season, clocking 351.22 km/h at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza — described as the fastest straight-line speed attained by a turbocharged car in the first turbo era.

For 1987 Berger signed for Ferrari, partnering Michele Alboreto and replacing Stefan Johansson. After mechanical failures early in the year he came on strongly in the second half, winning the final two rounds — the Japanese and Australian Grands Prix, with pole in both — giving Ferrari its first back-to-back victories since Gilles Villeneuve in 1981, and he out-qualified Alboreto 12–4. In 1988 the McLaren of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna dominated, winning 15 of 16 rounds; Berger was the only driver to break the run, winning the Italian Grand Prix with Alboreto second for a Ferrari 1–2 just weeks after Enzo Ferrari's death. Berger out-qualified Alboreto at all 16 events that season.

For 1989 Berger was joined by Nigel Mansell. The Ferrari 640, with its V12 and revolutionary semi-automatic gearbox designed by John Barnard, was fast but fragile. Berger escaped a major fire at Imola's Tamburello corner during the San Marino Grand Prix, hitting the wall at almost 180 mph; suffering only burns to his hands and broken ribs, he returned at the Mexican Grand Prix having missed only Monaco. He won in Portugal and finished second in Italy and Spain, taking 7th in the championship. With Prost joining Ferrari, Berger signed for McLaren.

From 1990 to 1992 Berger joined Ayrton Senna at McLaren. Generally quicker than predecessor Prost relative to Senna in qualifying, he was rarely able to match the Brazilian's race pace, taking three wins: the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix, gifted by Senna, and Canada and Australia in 1992. He obtained four pole positions across the three years and out-qualified Senna eight times. His debut ruffled feathers when he took pole for the 1990 United States Grand Prix. He found his form late in 1991 in the McLaren MP4/6, a car that fitted him better than the MP4/5B. In 1992 he won the Canadian Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix — his last race for McLaren and McLaren's last with Honda engines — before announcing a return to the struggling Ferrari.

Persuaded by Senna and by his countryman Niki Lauda, Berger returned to Ferrari in 1993. The active-ride Ferrari F93A failed to record a win, his best result being third at the Hungarian Grand Prix. In 1994, recovering from the deaths of Senna and countryman Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix, Berger scored an emotional win at Hockenheim in the Ferrari 412T — Ferrari's first victory since 1990 — and took two pole positions. A final season in 1995 brought several podiums; the departure of both Berger and Jean Alesi from Ferrari to Benetton ended the team's number 27 and 28 era that stretched back to 1981.

With the arrival of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1996, Berger moved back to Benetton, feeling the new Ferrari V10 engine would take too long to develop. 1996 was disappointing, the handling of the Benetton B196 not to his taste. After a layoff for sinusitis surgery and the death of his father in a light aircraft accident, Berger scored Benetton's final Grand Prix victory at the age of 37 at the 1997 German Grand Prix, also taking pole and fastest lap. He retired at the end of the season, finishing a close fourth in his final race at Jerez.

During his McLaren years (1990–1992) Berger became famous for elaborate practical jokes aimed at his focused teammate Senna, escalated under team manager Ron Dennis. Accounts include throwing Senna's carbon-fibre briefcase from a helicopter, filling Senna's bed with frogs, and altering Senna's passport photo — a prank that led to officials holding Senna for 24 hours in Argentina, to which Senna responded by supergluing Berger's credit cards together. The strong connection extended beyond Senna's death in 1994; Berger later advised Senna's nephew Bruno Senna.

After retirement, Berger served as Competitions Director at BMW until 2003, overseeing their return to Formula One in 2000. In 2006 he acquired 50% of Scuderia Toro Rosso, which won its first Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel, selling his share back in November 2008. He was appointed President of the FIA Single Seater Commission in 2012, leaving in December 2014, and in March 2017 became chairman of ITR, promoter of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.