Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari, stolen 28 years ago, is returned

London police have found a Ferrari sports car stolen from Gerhard Berger 28 years ago.

The Austrian lost his Ferrari F512M at Imola during the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix, when he was still driving for the Scuderia. He was not the only one who fell victim to attackers: there was another Formula 1 driver whose car was stolen. The local police tried to take action, but the chase yielded no results.

However, in January this year, the anti-theft department of the London police received a signal from Ferrari that a certain person was trying to import a sports car from Great Britain to the United States, and it was possible that this was the same car from Berger. .

British investigators acted quickly, they discovered that this Ferrari was once imported into Japan shortly after the theft, but ended up in Britain at the end of 2023 and is currently in Great Britain, where it is being prepared for shipping abroad.

Just four days after the investigation began, the sports car was seized by police.

“The stolen Ferrari, worth almost £350,000, was wanted for more than 28 years before we were able to locate it in just four days,” said Mike Pilbeam, the Metropolitan Police officer who led the search. “We conducted a very labor-intensive investigation, which included contacting various organizations around the world.

We acted quickly with the National Crime Agency, Ferrari and international car sales companies, and this collaboration was key to identifying the car’s history and preventing it from being taken out of the country.”

British police have not yet made any arrests and the investigation is ongoing. The second car, stolen in Imola that weekend, is still listed as stolen.

It should be added that concerns about Ferrari’s loss did not stop Gerhard Berger from reaching the podium on April 30, 1995: in that San Marino Grand Prix he finished third, and his then teammate Jean Alesi came second. Damon Hill, driving for Williams, won the race.