F1 driver Gerhard Berger’s stolen Ferrari recovered 28 years later

The wheels of justice may be agonizingly slow compared to the speed of a Formula 1 car, but Scotland Yard has recovered a special edition Ferrari belonging to racing driver Gerhard Berger after 28 years of disappearance .

This red F512M Testa RosaThe car, worth £350,000, was stolen in Imola, Italy, in 1995 as crowds gathered to watch the Grand Prix.

The Metropolitan Police said the car traveled to Japan before being recovered in London.

Ferrari warned police that the car was in the UK and was about to be sold to a US buyer.

The Austrian racing driver was competing in the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola when this photo was taken.

Metropolis said: “In January this year, Metropolis received a report from Ferrari that an inspection of a car purchased by a US buyer through a UK broker in 2023 revealed that it was a Vehicle theft.”

The police’s Organized Vehicle Crime Team was alerted and carried out checks around the world.

The car arrived in the UK in late 2023, and when the Metropolitan Police became convinced it was Berger’s car, they impounded it and banned its export.

The F512M is a more powerful version of the Testarossa, for those who thought the earlier model was a bit slow. According to Ferrari, it has a top speed of 196 mph (315 km/h) and takes about 11 seconds to hit 100 mph from a standstill. Only about 500 were produced.

The Metropolitan Police was at pains to point out that officers worked on this particular case for no more than four days in the face of suggestions that it was underperforming in more humdrum crimes.

Detective Inspector Mike Pilbeam, who led the investigation, said: “The stolen Ferrari, worth nearly £350,000, had been missing for more than 28 years and was found in just four days.

“Our investigation was painstaking and included contacting authorities around the world. We worked quickly with partners including the National Crime Agency, Ferrari and international car dealers, and this collaboration helped to understand the background of the vehicle and stop it leaving the country.”

Police said that in 2023, the Metropolitan Organized Vehicle Crime Unit seized 418 vehicles worth £31 million, 326 of which were linked to organized crime gangs.