Partial FC: Berger/Senna...pranksters
From: Fellippe Galletta (fellippe.gallettagmail.com)
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:41:13 -0700 (PDT)
Interesting story...never knew this about them!

Taken from WIKI:

It was during the McLaren years that Gerhard Berger became most famous for
his humorous side. Popular accounts tell of many ingenious practical
jokes<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke>thought up by the Austrian to
break through the serious, focused and
unyielding Ayrton Senna <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrton_Senna>. Senna,
accepting the challenge, quickly submitted, and spurred on by team manager Ron
Dennis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Dennis> the practical joking
escalated.

Accounts tell of an incident at
Monza<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodromo_Nazionale_Monza>where in
a joint helicopter ride Senna had been showing off his new tailor
made briefcase <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briefcase>. Having been made of
carbon fibre composite, Senna argued that it should be virtually
indestructible. Berger, without much hesitation and much to Senna's
disbelief, opened the door of the helicopter and threw the briefcase out, to
test the hypothesis.

"It fell somewhere near the course but we found it again," Berger recalled
with a cheeky grin.

On another occasion, in an
Australian<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia>hotel room Berger
filled Senna's bed with
animals <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal>. Senna understandably
infuriated, confronted Berger by saying;

"I've spent the last hour catching 12
frogs<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog>in my room," to which Berger
replied, "Did you find the
snake <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake>?"

"Actually they weren't frogs, they were bigger, more like
toads<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad>.
In Australia they have this kind of stuff. I thought he liked animals but
clearly not," Berger explained. It was an incident that prompted retaliation
by Senna, who then proceeded to put a strong smelling French
cheese<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cheese>in the air
conditioning unit of Berger's room.

On another occasion, Senna and Brazilian compatriot Maurício
Gugelmin<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maur%C3%ADcio_Gugelmin>decided
to fill Berger's shoes with shaving
foam <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaving_cream> on a fast train ride to a
dinner in Japan <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan>. Having been forced to
attend the dinner wearing a tuxedo <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxedo>with
sneakers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneaker>, Berger vowed for
retribution. It was at the Japanese Grand
Prix<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Grand_Prix>a few days later
that Gugelmin (driving for Leyton-House) was approached by
Joseph Leberer, the McLaren team nutritionist, offering fresh orange
juice<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_juice>.
Ever vigilant, Maurício declined the suspicious offer. He would later
expand:

"One hour before the race starts he crushed four sleeping
pills<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_pill>into that juice and
sent it to me. I would pass out at the start of the race
in which the world title would be decided. The cars roaring by at the track
and I snoring in the cabin, can you imagine it?"

Best known is probably an incident in which Berger replaced Senna's
passport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passport>photo with what Ron
Dennis described as "an equivalent-sized piece of male
genitalia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_genitalia>". Senna's fame meant
he rarely had his passport checked, but on a later trip to
Argentina<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina>Berger's
prank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prank> resulted in officials holding the
Brazilian for 24 hours. As a response to this
gag<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gag>,
Senna superglued all of Berger's credit cards together.

At the 1993 Japanese Grand
Prix<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Japanese_Grand_Prix>,
Senna and Berger were at the motorhome after the race drinking wine and
watching the replay of the telecast, and it was rumoured that Berger taunted
Senna into finding Jordan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Grand_Prix>driver Eddie
Irvine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Irvine> -whom had annoyed Senna
during the race after the Ulsterman unlapped himself while battling with Damon
Hill <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damon_Hill> for 6th place- and "not let
him get away with it". Senna then infamously stormed to the Jordan motorhome
to find Irvine and after a heated discussion proceeded to punch Irvine in
the face.

Another incident occurred years later at
Ferrari<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuderia_Ferrari>,
when Gerhard Berger and fellow F1 driver Jean
Alesi<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Alesi>were taking a ride with
team director Jean
Todt <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Todt>'s new special made
Lancia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia>roadcar at the very first
testing day of the 1995 F1 Season. Arriving at the
test track, Jean Alesi lost control of the car after Berger unexpectedly
pulled the handbrake. Having flipped the car, skidded upside down to a halt
in front of the entrance and Alesi having been sent to Hospital, Berger
admitted to Todt who wanted to know what happened to his car that they had
put "slight curb marks on the roof".

The strong connection between Senna and Berger has extended beyond the
Brazilian's
death <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ayrton_Senna> in
1994<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Formula_One_season>,
Berger now acting as an advisor to Bruno
Senna<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Senna>,
Ayrton's nephew, as he tries to become a Formula One driver.

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