Berger doesn't think Ferrari will beat Red Bull: 'Long time no fight'

Berger savours fight between Ferrari and Red Bull

The Austrian has a soft spot for Red Bull, as he has been in close contact with the leaders and staff of the current F1 team since before Red Bull became an Austrian company. His heart lies with Ferrari, as the experienced driver has driven no less than 96 races for the team. That is almost half of his career. Berger has driven 210 Grands Prix in his life and won ten of them. His best years were 1988 and 1994. In those years, the driver had to fight alone against Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna and against Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher; battles he was unable to take on.

Speaking to the likes of Hill at the F1 Nation podcast Berger says he is enjoying the current battle in the championship between the two teams at the front. The Austrian hopes Mercedes can get even more fiercely involved later in the season. For now, Berger believes it will be especially exciting between the teams' two leaders, Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. "Leclerc impresses me with his talent and speed over one lap. In terms of racecraft, I see a slight advantage for Max. He is brilliant during the race. He goes for every chance, he can overtake well, is good at wheel-to-wheel racing and can read the race like no other."

'Ferrari won't make it against Red Bull this year'

In terms of the drivers' championship, Berger thinks Verstappen has the upper hand. The fact that the Dutchman drives for Red Bull is going to help him in the championship, as the former driver thinks Ferrari can't yet manage to compete for the championship this year. "Combined with Red Bull's extremely good strategists and their good pit stops, I think it's an almost unbeatable package. Now they [Ferrari] are trying to fight for the title, but they haven't done that for years. They're not as far along as Red Bull yet."

Berger thinks Red Bull had a big advantage from last year's battle against Mercedes, with Verstappen going up against Lewis Hamilton. Every inch had to be fought for in 2021 and every detail had to be perfect. Red Bull is therefore more used to it this year and for Verstappen a certain pressure to become world champion is gone. Berger: "I think Verstappen is even better than last year. When you win a world title, it takes a lot of pressure off."