Carpooling Éric Bernard: “I made mistakes by sometimes believing in Santa Claus”

Eric Bernard completely turned his back on Formula 1. At the age of 54, the Provençal returned to the cultivation of truffles, an activity that he had started alongside his life in motorsport. “at the turn of the years 1989-1990. I felt the need not to lose sight of the essentials while living in this F1 bubble”, he explains in the Carpooling to read in n°2190 ofCARhebdo (available on newsstands and in digital version).

Petit's winner Le Mans in 1999 with Panoz also speaks on the stories of sponsorships, contracts and human relationships that had a major influence on his career. As such, the treatment surrounding his best performance in F1 leaves him with a bitter taste. In 1994, Éric Bernard drove for Ligier…

“I only had four mechanics on my car at the French GP and I was under perpetual and unbearable pressure. I never gave in because I understood their ploy. » Then comes the German Grand Prix, contested on the ultra-fast Hockenheim circuit. " Olivier (Pani) and I finished 2nd and 3rd gthanks to a one-stop strategy that I managed to impose on the team. Not a thank you.

Two and a half months later in Jérez (Spain), Cesare Fiorio (Ligier boss. Editor’s note) call me. “You’re fired, replaced by Herbert,” he told me. But you replace him at Lotus. "At Lotus, no one knew about it", recalls the Frenchman.

Finally, Éric Bernard does not have his tongue in his pocket when judging the state of current F1. « Why this aero sophistication? What is the interest for the viewer? And we wonder why the excesses have disappeared? So, they invented a movable fin (DRS) to break this aero and overtake without the opponent being able to defend himself. Funny sport! »