Berger returned to Formula One in 2006 as the co-owner of Toro Rosso, before selling his 50% share back to Red Bull at the end of the 2008 season.

The doctors realised the extent of his injuries (a broken neck and some damaged bones in his back) and made sure he was not moved until special equipment arrived.

Although he had some good drives (including running 6th in France), Berger would finish the season in 20th place having scored 3 points in the last two races of the year in South Africa and Australia.

Finally in a car that allowed him to exploit both his talent and the exceptional power of the BMW turbo engine (1,400 bhp (1,044 kW; 1,419 PS) in qualifying in 1986), coupled with a clever Pirelli tyre strategy, Berger won his first Grand Prix in Mexico using the Benetton B186.

Berger was also on course for an easy victory at his home race, the 1986 Austrian Grand Prix before being forced into the pits from a comfortable lead with a flat battery.

He won the 1985 Spa 24 Hours partnering Italian touring car ace Roberto Ravaglia and fellow Formula One driver, Marc Surer of Switzerland.

At Estoril for the Portuguese Grand Prix Berger dominated the race from pole position before spinning in the latter stages to finish second after pressure from Alain Prost.

The Austrian then looked to be heading for a second consecutive victory at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit for the Mexican Grand Prix as he once again dominated the race but mechanical problems forced him to retire when leading.

In 1988, the McLaren team, with twice World Champion Alain Prost and the sensationally fast Ayrton Senna dominated the season, winning 15 of the 16 rounds.

The Honda V6 turbo engine in the McLaren MP4/4, and Lotus's 100T had superior fuel efficiency to the Ferrari, which caused both Berger and Alboreto to often drive much slower than possible in races.

Berger was the only driver to break the McLaren stranglehold in 1988, winning the Italian Grand Prix after Senna tangled with Jean-Louis Schlesser, who had temporarily replaced Nigel Mansell (who was sick with chicken pox) in the Williams-Judd.

In the space of 200 metres Berger was passed by Nelson Piquet (Lotus), Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever (Arrows) and Riccardo Patrese (Williams).

Both Ferrari drivers were often forced to use the lowest turbo boost setting they had (approximately 2.0 bar) and reduce their engine's revs in order to get the cars to the finish of a race.

Berger was leading the final race of the season at Adelaide ahead of Prost and Senna before he clashed with former Ferrari driver René Arnoux in the Ligier while trying to lap the Frenchman.

With the exception of the Australian Grand Prix where both Ferrari drivers had poor qualifying sessions, Berger featured in the top four in qualifying and races in all of the remaining Grands Prix but poor reliability and accidents meant that he only finished three races all year (by mid-season the problem with the semi-automatic transmission was found to be not enough power from the battery which was fixed with the help of team sponsor, electrical experts Magneti Marelli).

His debut at McLaren ruffled feathers, as he outqualified Senna for the 1990 United States Grand Prix obtaining pole position.

Towards the end of 1991, Berger found his form in the McLaren MP4/6 – a car he was able to fit in better than the MP4/5B, out-qualifying teammate Senna at the Portuguese, Spanish and the title deciding Japanese Grands Prix (claiming pole position in the latter two events).

In 1992, Berger won the 1992 Canadian Grand Prix having overtaken Riccardo Patrese's Williams and attacking teammate Senna before the Brazilian retired.

A lucrative offer from Ferrari proved too tempting for Berger who announced before the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix that he would be returning to the struggling Italian outfit.

[3] The active ride suspension made the car unpredictable to drive and the Ferrari F93A failed to record a single victory and spent the majority of the season competing for the lower points.

A final season with the team in 1995 saw Berger score a number of podiums and was in a race winning position at the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix having qualified second before stalling in the pits but the fastest lap was a mere consolation.

Berger produced another aggressive drive for third having received a 10-second stop-go penalty for a jump start and then climbing up through the field from 14th position at the 1995 German Grand Prix, making a number of overtakings on the way.

With the arrival of Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 1996, Berger moved back to Benetton, although the team lost the competitiveness of the previous years.

Berger nearly won the German Grand Prix for the second time in his career before his Renault V10 engine blew up, handing victory to Damon Hill in the Williams.

He eventually retired at the end of the season, his final race seeing him finish a very close fourth in Jerez only seconds behind the victor Mika Häkkinen.

[7] On another occasion, Senna and Brazilian compatriot Maurício Gugelmin decided to fill Berger's shoes with shaving foam on a fast train ride to a dinner in Japan.

[9] Senna's fame meant he rarely had his passport checked, but on a later trip to Argentina, Berger's prank resulted in officials holding the Brazilian for 24 hours.

Berger later acted as an advisor to Bruno Senna, Ayrton's nephew, who made his Formula One debut with the HRT F1 Team in the 2010 World Championship, and subsequently switched to Williams.

Specifically, at the Fiorano Circuit a day before the launch of that season's new F1 car, Berger and his then new teammate, Jean Alesi, decided to take a nearby roadcar for a spin.

Because of the view that Alesi was driving conservatively, Berger decided to apply the handbrake causing the Lancia to flip upon their return to the pits, skidding upside down centimeters away from their yet-to-be unveiled new F1 car.