Police Recovered A Ferrari Stolen From An F1 Driver Nearly 30 Years Ago

Police in the UK have found a Ferrari that was stolen from a Formula 1 driver nearly 30 years ago that somehow was able to stay under the radar until now.

Austrian driver Gerhard Berger raced for a few teams over his F1 career which lasted more than a decade including McLaren and Benetton. However, he's probably best remembered for his two stints with Ferrari.

Berger's last season was 1995 with the Scuderia, and at that year's San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Berger faced a bit of an off-track distraction.

According to The New York Times, Berger spotted someone trying to drive off with his red Ferrari 512M Testarossa. So, what did Berger do? Lace his hands behind his head and let thieves drive off with a car he may or may not have gotten from the team?

Of course not! He jumped in front of the car in a bid to stop the thieves but had to jump out of the way at the last second.

But Berger wasn't done. He jumped in the first available car,  which for some reason in a Formula 1 paddock was a VW Golf. He gave chase, but the Golf was no match for the Ferrari. Another Ferrari belonging to Berger's teammate Jean Alesi was stolen at the same time.

What might be most impressive about this is despite a harrowing weekend, Berger and Alesi both finished on the Podium that weekend with Berger in P3 and Alesi in P2 behind Williams' Damon Hill.

Ferrari's Jean Alesi (left) and Gerhard Berger (right) celebrate with Williams' Damon Hill at the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix. Try to guess which two guys had their Ferraris stolen that weekend. (Getty Images)

However, there's not enough champagne in the world to keep one from bumming about their stolen Ferrari.

There was no sign of either car until January of this year. That was when Metropolitan Police in London were tipped off by Ferrari that Berger's stolen car was in the process of being sold to an American buyer. It was later determined that the car was sent to Japan soon after being stolen and made it to the UK late last year.

The car has since been recovered, but no word yet on what will happen to it.

Unfortunately, there is still no trace of John Alesi's Ferrari.