Breaking News: A Driver Dies, the former Indianapolis 500 winner and F1 team sporting director

A motorsport legend in both Europe and the US, French-Brazilian

Today, the motorsport community lamented the passing of veteran Gil de Ferran. He was known to Formula One fans as a sporting director for Honda, then McLaren. However, he has made progress in both the boardroom and the cockpit.

Ferran started out in the junior series and advanced through the levels swiftly. In 1992, he won the British Formula Series, earning him his first title. In 1994, he continued this with P3 in Formula 3000.

This kind of achievement frequently gets noticed by Formula 1 teams. But at the end of 1994, Ferran made a different decision and moved to the US to start a very successful career in Indycar and CART.

At the end of 1995, he not only won his maiden race in the series but also took home the coveted Rookie of the Year award. Feeling more confident, he came in second to winner Alex Zanardi in 1997. His career was characterized by hardships and an increasing difficulty in achieving success.

Nevertheless, after joining Penske in 1999, things started to improve. His accomplishments with the squad culminated in his victory at the 2003 Indianapolis 500, surpassing his colleague in the process. After this accomplishment, he made the decision to resign and started a new job on the pit wall.

F1 laments motorsport legend’s passing

Ferran was named Sporting Director of BAR Honda in 2005; however, in 2006, Honda acquired the team in its entirety. Before leaving in 2007, he managed the team’s historic maiden victory in 2006 under Jenson Button. In the late 2000s, he attempted to manage an Indianapolis 500, but the endeavor failed.

After that, Ferran started a long career with McLaren. After the terrible Honda era, the organization signed him as Sporting Director in 2018 to succeed departing Eric Boullier. Before departing in 2021, he led a significant reorganization of the group. In May of this year, he rejoined the team as a consultant.

There are a ton of tributes for Ferran. Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali expressed his understandable sorrow upon hearing of Gil de Ferran’s passing, as reported by formula1.com: “I am very shocked and deeply saddened by the news.”