Ferrari chief 'locked himself in bathroom' over break-in fear

Ferrari legends Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher at the Brazilian Grand Prix 2003 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Legends

Ferrari chief 'locked himself in bathroom' over break-in fear

Otmar Szafnauer told the bizarre story on a recent podcast

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 28 May 2026 14:57

A former F1 team boss has revealed an unusual story featuring two Ferrari legends.

Jean Todt was the Ferrari general manager between 1994-2007, before becoming CEO and special advisor in later years.

He was crucial in convincing Michael Schumacher to join the Scuderia, and was boss between 2000-2004, the period in which Ferrari and Schumacher won five consecutive world championships.

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Todt's first success as general manager, however, came as early as 1994, when Gerhard Berger claimed Ferrari's first grand prix win for four years at that season's German Grand Prix.

Berger never claimed a drivers' championship title, but firmly landed himself in Ferrari fans' hearts by claiming 13 podiums for the team between 1993-1995, having previously also raced with them between 1987-1989.

Now, a more recent F1 team boss, Otmar Szafnauer, has revealed a hilarious story involving both former FIA president Todt and Berger.

Szafnauer claims that Berger accidentally scared Todt at a previous iteration of the Italian Grand Prix, with Todt believing the Austrian to be a thief after Berger had become locked out of his room.

Berger scares Todt

“I think it was Monza, so, I wasn't there,” Szafnauer revealed on the High Performance podcast. “Somebody told me the story. Gerhard Berger's driver that kind of looked after him is leaving where Gerhard was staying. Small hotel. He was on I don't know the second floor. Was locked out. Couldn't get in. So Gerhard calls him, says, 'Come back. I need you to help me get into my room.'

“And it's 1:32 in the morning, doors are locked, can't get a hold of the owners. And you know, this is at a time where the internet didn't exist, but cell phones were prevalent.

“So my friend goes back and he says, 'It's my room up there.' So they crawl up on the balcony. He and Gerhard both get up on the balcony outside this room get a crowbar from the van, and they're trying to get the window open. Well, as they're trying to get the window open, the window smashes and Gerhard looks, he said, 'It's not my room.'

“They had the wrong room and the window smashed. It was Jean Todt's room.”

F1 legend Rob Smedley replied: “That's the one person whose room you do not want it to be.”

Szafnauer continued: “And Jean Todt thought somebody was breaking in because the window smashed in his hotel room. He went and locked himself in the bathroom.”

Podcast host Jake Humphrey then asked: “Does Jean even know until he heard it on this podcast that it was Gerhard breaking into his room?”

Szafnauer replied: “He's gonna learn now.”

F1 Ferrari Otmar Szafnauer Gerhard Berger Jean Todt