McLaren the best team in F1 claims Berger

1 February, 2012

Gerhard Berger and McLaren team mate Ayrton Senna in 1991

Feb.1 (GMM) Ahead of the launch of the team’s 2012 Formula 1 car, former driver Gerhard Berger has declared McLaren the very best in the sport.

Since Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 title, however, the Woking based squad has not added to its tally of world championships.

“Actually, McLaren is basically the best team,” Austrian Berger told Auto Motor und Sport magazine.

“They don’t have (Adrian) Newey and yet they still build good cars all the time. This shows they have a strong, broad-based team of engineers.

“With the Mercedes they have the best engine in the field and a very good driver pairing,” he added.

Another of Berger’s former teams is Ferrari, but he says the great Italians now remind of his own era rather than the ultra-success achieved by Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn.

“Now they’re back where they were in my time,” he insisted, “winning one race per season and finishing third.

“The success in between those periods really was about those four people. Probably now it would be enough for them to just take away Newey from Red Bull. Aerodynamics is just that important.”

And Berger said he is not surprised that Mercedes is struggling to find its feet, despite having Brawn at the helm.

“Not really. Ross Brawn is a very good technical manager, a great strategist, but he does not build the car,” he insisted.

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2. Berger says Schumacher is still among best
3. Berger critical of Mercedes team orders
4. Sauber denies selling team to Berger
5. Berger backs Schumacher amid negativity