Berger drives the Ferrari F1 87-88C, a John Barnard rework of an original Gustav Brunner design, at Silverstone in 1988.
Berger drove the Benetton B197 to pole and victory at the 1997 German Grand Prix. Photo: Jim Hatfield
The world held its breath on April 23, 1989, when Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari 640 went straight on at Imola’s Tamburello corner during the San Marino Grand Prix. The car slammed into a wall at an estimated 180 mph, spun wildly several times, slithered along the base of a group of advertising hoardings, stopped and burst into a ball of raging yellow and red flames.
The race carried on for the remainder of the lap and then it was stopped. Horrified track spectators watched the fiery Ferrari, with Gerhard still in it, as the car blazed greedily. Television commentators scrambled for words to describe the holocaust as viewers across the world witnessed the high drama live. Tension was everywhere.
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