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.