The red Ferrari F512M was one of two of the Italian sports cars taken while their drivers were at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in Italy in 1995.

A Ferrari stolen from former Formula One driver Gerhard Berger 28 years ago has been recovered by the Metropolitan Police.

The red Ferrari F512M was one of two of the Italian sports cars taken while their drivers were at the San Marino Grand Prix held at Imola in Italy in April 1995.

The red Ferrari F512M belonged to Formula One driver Gerhard Berger (Metropolitan Police/PA)

The Met said officers received a report from the car maker in January this year after the firm had carried out checks on a car being bought by a US buyer through a UK broker last year.

The Organised Vehicle Crime Unit discovered the car had been shipped to Japan shortly after being stolen until it was brought to the UK in late 2023, and they swooped to take possession and prevent it from being exported.

The second car remains missing and no arrests have yet been made, the force added.

The Metropolitan Police’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit tracked the stolen car down and stopped it being exported (Metropolitan Police/PA)

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.”

Get a free copy of our print edition

News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.
You need to agree with the terms to proceed

Your email address will not be published. The views expressed in the comments below are not those of Perspective. We encourage healthy debate, but racist, misogynistic, homophobic and other types of hateful comments will not be published.