Austrian former Formula One racing driver, Gerhard Berger, does not feel confident in Scuderia Ferrari’s chances ahead of the 2017 Formula 1 season, saying that Mercedes and Red Bull will most likely still have an advantage over the Maranello team, as far as the new car is concerned.
Gerhard Berger signed for Ferrari in 1987, replacing Stefan Johansson. He drove for the Italian side during six years, in two different periods (1987 – 1989 and 1993 – 1995), with a total of 96 races for Scuderia Ferrari, scoring five wins and other 19 podium finishes.
“My heart is Ferrari and it hurts to criticise the team” – said the German, as reported by leading German automobile magazine Auto Motor Und Sport – “But the reality is that it is on a downward spiral. The situation now is like this: Ferrari in 2015 with luck took some victories, and they assumed that was an achievement. But they are now really far from Mercedes and Red Bull. Somehow Ferrari is back where they were when I drove for them. One problem is that Ferrari is sensitive to any criticism. It is somehow the ‘golden calf’, which one must not touch, but this certainly does not help.” – Gerhard Berger added.
The former Ferrari driver then repeated his comments that Sebastian Vettel had been wrong to move from Red Bull to the Italiam team back in 2015, saying that the four-time Formula 1 world champion might have to consider another change on at the end of 2017 season: “He underestimated what Michael Schumacher did. Michael went to Ferrari, but he took Benetton people with him. When he arrived, Ferrari was in the same state that it is today. Sebastian should have made the move to Ferrari only if he could – as Michael did – take key figures from Red Bull along with him. I don’t see how things can change for Ferrari in this year, and then Vettel will have to make a hard decision.” – Gerhard Berger concluded.
