The background considerations behind Berger's Aston boss criticism

Gerhard Berger, rather like his much-missed countryman Niki Lauda, is hard-wired with a direct connection from mouth to brain and keeps a well-stocked larder of forthright opinions which he is inclined to share. This makes him fascinating casual company, irresistible to journalists – and, so the word goes, an occasionally difficult personality with which to work.

It is in this context we should probably view his typically unfiltered comments about recently installed Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack. During an interview with GP Racing’s German-based sister publication Motorsport-Total, Berger said that during Krack’s tenure at BMW he “didn’t impress me”. There was no way motor racing’s fourth estate could leave it at that. Holding court at the Bahrain GP, Berger was invited to elucidate and gleefully obliged.

“When I watched what was done in DTM, I just don’t see the way forward for Aston Martin with him,” Gerhard continued. “In all the years I’ve been there now, [BMW has] never been consistently competitive. They’d be on the starting grid in a good position one day and they didn’t know why they’re there. And the next day they’d be at the end of the grid and didn’t know why.

“When you see this over a longer period, you question the people behind it, and he was leading it, the project. And this is DTM! DTM is great. But F1 is a different league. Here, you need to be the best of the best in the world. I don’t see this.”

Unequivocal indeed. And yet it must be said that Berger is lugging some baggage when it comes to matters BMW. The company has long had a peculiarly binary relationship with motor racing, seemingly all in or all out, as Gerhard well knows, having been BMW’s motorsport director from 1998 to 2003.

He ‘retired’ when his contract wasn’t renewed, and the word in the paddock at the time was that the arrangement in which he was in effect co-boss with Mario Theissen did not appeal to either man, since each coveted sole authority. Theissen clearly won that battle and duly led BMW into F1 as a constructor, pushing for the purchase of Sauber in 2005 when the relationship with Williams broke down.

After Berger's deal with BMW wasn't renewed and Mario Theissen took control, he became a co-owner at Toro Rosso

Photo by: Sutton Images

Not long after that Berger reappeared as a 50% co-investor in Scuderia Toro Rosso with Red Bull magnate Dietrich Mateschitz, whose carbonated energy drink Gerhard had introduced to F1 as a sponsor back in 1989. The arrangement didn’t last long – Berger sold out in 2008 – but there was a brief period early in 2007, when the first Adrian Newey Red Bull chassis were regularly self-destructing on track, that Austrian sources were adamant Christian Horner’s firing was imminent, and that Berger was being teed up to replace him.

Is there a touch of the frustrated team boss lingering in Gerhard’s sentiments? Perhaps. But, fine racing driver as he was, and successful businessman as he is, I’m not convinced his skill set aligns with managing a racing organisation.

The most successful organisations in F1 are headed by team builders, not one-man wrecking balls. Diplomacy and the ability to encase the proverbial clunking fist in the equally proverbial velvet glove are essential

During his brief tenure as FIA single-seater commissioner he brought many good ideas to the table, including the introduction of Formula 4, but his attempt to resolve the mess that was F3 – while well-intentioned – was less successful and resulted in the death of the British and German series.

The most successful organisations in F1 are headed by team builders, not one-man wrecking balls. Diplomacy and the ability to encase the proverbial clunking fist in the equally proverbial velvet glove are essential. Since slipping his feet under the desk at Aston Martin, Krack has made all the right noises in terms of his approach to taking the team forward.

Has anyone asked him what he thinks of Gerhard Berger?

Krack was criticised by Berger for his time with BMW in the DTM, but is now settling into his role at Aston Martin

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images