Edd Straw ranks Gerhard Berger's F1 wins

In our recent F1 Revisited members' podcast on the 1997 German Grand Prix, the question of whether it was Gerhard Berger's best win arose. Inevitably, that led to EDD STRAW ranking all 10 of his wins. Here they are.

Let us know what you think of Edd's list, and tell us the order you would put these wins in! Or just share with us your favourite memory from any of these races. We'll see you in the comments under this post!

10 Japan 1991

The fact this was a victory gifted to him by McLaren team-mate Ayrton Senna means it’s inevitably ranked at the bottom of this list.

Yes, Berger started from pole position and led early on before being passed, yes he had an exhaust problem that cost him performance, but Senna backed out of a seven-second lead late on made it enormously unsatisfactory. Even Berger admitted that "I didn't like it". 

9 Canada 1992

Berger won the 1990 Canadian Grand Prix on-the-road, dropping to fourth once a one-minute jump-start penalty was applied. That day, McLaren team-mate Ayrton Senna let him past to allow clear track to compensate for the penalty, and when Berger won for real in Canada two years later he also needed his team-mate’s assistance.

Berger ran fourth early on, which became third when he passed Riccardo Patrese then second when Nigel Mansell spun out. He only picked up the win when Senna retired with an electrical problem.

8 Australia 1992 

The infamous collision between Senna and Mansell presented Berger with the opportunity to win this race.

Berger was chasing leader Riccardo Patrese’s Williams when an attack at the hairpin led to a big lockup and a wide moment, forcing a tyre stop.

Berger came through to pick up the lead when Patrese, who he was catching, ground to a halt with an engine failure and then held off the charging Michael Schumacher to win.

7 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix

Berger took the lead at the start from second on the grid, but struggled with his front tyres and traffic and fell back into Mansell’s clutches, losing the lead after being boxed in behind Stefano Modena and Derek Warwick.

Mansell lost the lead after missing his pitbox, subsequently being given the black flag for reversing in the pits and infamously taking out Senna.

While it was a good drive from Berger, Mansell's assistance means it can’t be higher on the list.

6 1994 German Grand Prix

This was arguably Berger’s most important victory given it ended a 58-race win drought for Ferrari and marked the first win of the Jean Todt era. However, he was helped by the competition falling by the wayside.

Team-mate Jean Alesi lost power on the first lap, Michael Schumacher suffered an engine failure and Damon Hill had to make a first-lap pitstop after tangling with Ukyo Katayama. Berger didn’t put a foot wrong to take a famous win.

5 1988 Italian Grand Prix

There’s no chance Berger could have won this race had the McLarens not hit trouble, but his mighty charge late on as Senna managed his fuel reserves was key.

Had Berger not carved almost 1.8s per lap out of Senna for the preceding 12 laps to start the penultimate lap within five seconds, maybe the McLaren driver would have left more space for backmarker Jean-Louis Schlesser’s Williams at the first chicane as he lapped him?

4 1987 Japanese Grand Prix

The bare facts of winning from pole position at Suzuka make this a contender for top spot, but even on the day Berger himself felt “I was lucky”.

It’s not that he inherited victory, it was earned fairly and squarely with an advantage of 17s over Senna, but early pursuer Prost was out of contention after picking up a slow puncture.

The Williams challenge was also neutered by Nigel Mansell’s injury and team-mate Nelson Piquet not extending himself as a result.

3 1987 Australian Grand Prix

Berger put in a storming lap to take pole position but lost the lead to Piquet at the start thanks to armfuls of wheelspin despite a swerve to try and cover him off.

But Piquet’s lead was short-lived as Berger retook first place almost immediately. That was the last anyone saw of him as he went on to take victory by almost half-a-minute from Senna, which became a win by more than a minute over team-mate Michele Alboreto after Senna was disqualified.

2 1986 Mexican Grand Prix

Berger’s first victory was also the first for Benetton after a famous no-stop strategy.

He started fourth, held third early on behind Nelson Piquet (Williams) and Senna (Lotus), and moved into the lead when they stopped for fresh Goodyears.

But Benetton had masterminded a brilliant strategy with a mix-and-match set of Pirellis using a different compound on each corner, allowing him to no-stop and pull off a brilliant win.

1 1997 German Grand Prix

This win came as a bolt from the blue given Benetton’s struggles, Berger’s three-race absence and the fact that he was hardly welcomed back by team boss Flavio Briatore.

For Berger to have inherited a win at Hockenheim wasn’t impossible, but to take pole position, take fastest lap seemed improbable at best. Berger could be a mercurial performer, and this was a weekend where he was simply brilliant from start to finish. 

Ok - let's hear from you below. What do you think of Edd's list, what are your favourite Berger memories, and would you like to see more articles like this on Patreon?!