Ferrari stolen from F1 driver Gerhard Berger in 1995 recovered by MPS

His was one of two Ferraris stolen from F1 drivers at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola in April 1995.

Despite being reported missing, Berger’s red Ferrari F512M was never found until the MPS started an investigation.

In January this year, the MPS received a report from Ferrari, which had carried out checks on a car being bought by a US buyer via a UK broker in 2023, which revealed it was a stolen vehicle.

Officers from the MPS’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit carried out extensive inquiries across the world, which revealed the car’s background, including that it had been shipped to Japan shortly after being stolen until it was brought to the UK in late 2023.

Establishing the history of the vehicle in just four days, Berger’s Ferrari was tracked down and was moved into the MPS’s possession to prevent the car from being exported from the UK.

PC Mike Pilbeam, who led the investigation, said: “The stolen Ferrari – close to the value of £350,000 – was missing for more than 28 years before we managed to track it down in just four days.

“Our inquiries were painstaking and included contacting authorities from around the world. We worked quickly with partners, including the National Crime Agency, as well as Ferrari and international car dealerships, and this collaboration was instrumental in understanding the vehicle’s background and stopping it from leaving the country.”

The MPS said inquiries remain ongoing and no arrests have been made so far. The second Ferrari remains missing.

The MPS said its Organised Vehicle Crime Unit is a small team of “experienced vehicle examiners, police officers and staff with a wealth of knowledge”.

In 2023, the unit recovered 418 vehicles, with a combined value of £31 million. Of these, 326 have been linked to organised criminal gangs, making up £21 million of the total value of vehicles seized.