– Are Formula 1 drivers nowadays no longer allowed to honestly express their opinions? Former driver Gerhard Berger at least believes that teams have had too much influence for years on what drivers are allowed to say – and what not.
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“I experienced a time when it was left to the driver what he says and what he does not say,” said the former Ferrari and McLaren driver in an interview with the Salzburger Nachrichten and the Tiroler Tageszeitung.
“No one criticized the driver, his statements were just left as they were,” he recalls and explains: “Then the time came when the big car manufacturers arrived.”
They started “explaining to the driver: ‘You can’t say that because we are the manufacturer and that doesn’t fit with our image.’ That was already the first breaking point with the characters of the drivers,” said Berger.
“And now it is even the case that they explain to them what they have to say,” he explains. Recently, a story involving world champion Lando Norris and his McLaren team caused a stir in this regard.
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Photo series: The Formula 1 career of Gerhard Berger
In an interview with The Guardian, Norris’s management forbade him from speaking about certain topics. For example, the champion was not allowed to comment on the new Formula 1 regulations or his rivalry with Max Verstappen.
Berger himself raced in the top class from 1984 to 1997 and also worked as motorsport director at BMW after his active career and was co-owner of the Toro Rosso team after Red Bull took over the former Minardi team.
Later, the Austrian was also head of the DTM. However, the now 66-year-old has no interest in returning to Formula 1. “That is basically finished. I have a lot to do with my companies and I must also say that I enjoy the time with my children,” he explains.
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“I enjoy that and I really enjoy it. I prioritize that now because I realize that time is running out for me. But if I were to do Formula 1 again now, it would be the first thing to get run over again. And I don’t want that,” said Berger.
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