Gil de Ferran, 1967-2023

While Gil de Ferran never quite made it to Formula 1, the Paris-born Brazilian was undoubtably one of the most accomplished drivers never to race at grand prix level. He won the 2003 Indianapolis 500 for Penske, just inches ahead of team-mate and fellow Brazilian Helio Castroneves, he was CART Champion in 2000 and 2001 and to this day holds the record for the fastest ever qualifying lap in motor racing – he lapped the California Speedway at 241.428 mph for a race he went on to win. But for a problem at the Sebring 12 Hours, he would have won the 2009 American Le Mans series in an Acura ARX. After he finally hung up his helmet he was in demand in management roles, first for Honda and much more recently at McLaren – his in-depth knowledge of the sport and his ability to motivate being much in demand. de Ferran was hugely respected on both sides of the Atlantic, he had a strong engineering background, a big personality, he was always eloquent and thus a great interview but also a devoted family man.

Although born in France, GDF moved with his parents to their home country of Brazil at an early age. His father became the head of product development for Ford in Brazil and instilled an interest in the mechanical aspect of automobiles. He actually started karting at the age of 14 and, after trying to run unsuccessfully as a family team, found the funds to race with a professional set-up.

He then won the Brazilian title while studying engineering and forged a plan to race in Formula 3 in the UK but could only raise £30K which was a poor Formula Ford budget. But Ayrton Senna put in a good word with van Diemen and he was able to put a deal together and based himself in a little house in Silverstone village. Initially it was a disaster, he was depressed and missing Brazil and he was running . at best, mid-pack. A change to a Scholar engine helped but he crashed a lot – telling Simon Taylor for Motor Sport’s Lunch with.. series that he was an angry man at the time. But a late season one-off F3 race with Techspeed in the B category saw him on pole and he finished second to David Brabham. In 1989 he raced for what was effectively the Reynard Formula Ford works team, had eight wins and was third in both the British and Esso series.

Jackie and Paul Stewart picked up on the talent and he spent 1990 racing Formula Vauxhall Lotus with their Stairway of Talent initiative with David Coulthard as his team-mate. He finished second in the British series and third in the European and with better results than DC. At the team he met their “Miss Fix It”, Angela Buckland and thus became what, at the time, was part of the Motor Sport magazine family. Angela was part of the Tee family who then owned the title – her cousin is the well-known photographer Stephen Tee. The pair were soon an item and Angela was to become his wife. His easy personality and openness also made him a firm favourite amongst many of the leading motor sport writers.

The trajectory was upwards from then on through F3 with Edenbridge Racing and then back with PSE in 1992 and that year he dominated the series and by August had clinched the title. A test on a rainy day at Silverstone on his 25th birthday with Williams followed and although he set competitive times, the team chose his former team-mate Coulthard instead. So he spent two seasons in F3000 with PSR scoring three wins and finishing 4th in 92 and 3rd in 93. But another chance of moving to Formula 1 – a test with Footwork at Estoril – ended in disaster when he split his head open on a protruding transporter cupboard. But he had also picked up a surprise test with Jim Hall’s IndyCar team in Texas and that went so well he was offered a three year contract to race in the States. There was some resistance from sponsors Pennzoil to have a relative unknown but he proved a revelation and won the final round of that 1995 season and took the Rookie of the Year honours.

For the following year the team switched from Mercedes to Honda power and Gil did a lot of development work. It was the start of a relationship which lasted many years and later led to success in sports car racing and Formula 1 management. After Hall closed the team, Gil moved to Walker Racing where he spent three seasons and in the first year, 1997, was runner-up in the Championship to Alex Zanardi. In 2000 he switched to Penske Racing where he spent five fulfilling seasons. The first two years saw him win the championships on both occasions. In 2000 he clinched it at the final round at Fontana, where he set that 241mph qualifying lap. In 2001 the championship came after a titanic battle with Swede Kenny Brack and included a win at Britain’s Rockingham after a last corner overtake.

The 2002 season started well with second behind Helio Castroneves at the Indy 500 but he had a massive crash at Chicago which sidelined him for the rest of the season. He came back strong in 2003, but only after another big crash at Homestead. He was still feeling the effects at the Indy 500 and after a couple of strong strategy calls by Roger Penske, he fought through cramp in his hands and shoulders and after a tussle with Helio again, he took the flag and the bottle of milk. He finished the season second to Scott Dixon, the first of the New Zealander’s wins in a series he continues to compete in. GDF was 36 years old and decided to hang up his helmet – although it wasn’t to last.

After relaxing for most of the next two years Honda offered him the job of Sporting Director at BAR, which it now owned 100%. He moved the family to Oxford and, responsible to Nick Fry, ran the team for two years and forged a great relationship with Jenson Button. But success didn’t come and he felt bogged down in various politics. His relationship with Honda was still strong and in 2008, with its backing, set up his own team to run in the prestigious American Le Mans Series. He decided to drive alongside Simon Pagenaud, who he had hired. They raced in in LMP2 that year and then with the Wirth-designed Acura LMP1 the following year. After a non-finish at the season starter of Sebring, they won five out of the ten races and finished a close second to the sister Honda team, of Highcroft Racing with drivers David Brabham and Scott Sharp. In 2010 Gil went into partnership with Roger Penske’s son Jay with a new Indycar team but after a couple of seasons of moderate success he pulled out.

He did some TV commentary and motivational speaking but then came a call from Zak Brown in July 2018 to replace Eric Boullier as McLaren’s Sporting Director. Gil worked not only with the Formula 1 team but also coached Fernando Alonso on the intricacies of the Indy 500. He resigned in early 2021 only to return in a consultancy role in May 2023 and his sage advice has helped the Woking team up the grid. Alonso and Button are just two of many top motor racing stars and personalities to lead the tributes to this remarkable man, whose death from a heart attack came so unexpectedly and too soon.

Motor Sport offers its sincere condolences to Gil’s wife Angela, children Luke and Anna and the family.