2023-12-30 02:15:00
Gilles de Ferran celebrates winning the 2003 Indy 500
Photo: IMSS
This is the kind of news we don’t want to believe when it reaches us. Especially when one of our heroes is gone. Even as we get older, there are people we don’t forget. One of them is Gilles de Ferrand, who left us this Friday (29th).
Born in France but arrived in Brazil at the age of 4 thanks to the work of his father, engineer Luc de Ferran, one of the most important names in the Brazilian automotive industry, Gil de Ferran was involved with the automobile from an early age. He followed the natural path of drivers and started karting.
After good results, he switched to cars and started in Formula Ford, leaving his career in mechanical engineering (he followed in his father’s footsteps). Although many believed that he received some protection from his father, who worked as an engineer in a factory, Gil proved that he had talent and won the Brazilian championship in 1987.
As was common among those who wanted to enter Formula 1, Gil went to the United Kingdom and also began driving in Formula Ford and was one of the first drivers for Paul Stewart Racing (son of Jackie Stewart) in Formula Opel. In 1991 he made the jump to English F3, maintaining the Reynard chassis development line in the middle of Ralt, finishing 3rd in the championship behind David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello.
He remained in the category the following year, but returned to Paul Stewart Racing with André Ribeiro as a partner. Gill wins 7 of 16 races and wins the championship. As a reward, he had the opportunity to drive that year’s champion, the Williams FW14B, at a rainy Silverstone in 1993.
De Ferran tests the “supernatural” Williams at Silverstone
Photo: X / Playback
Fast and technical, Gill endeared himself to the Stewart family and continued with the team until F3000 in 1993. In a somewhat difficult year, he won the Silverstone race and finished 4th in the championship. But his performance caught the attention of F1. And the Brazilian was called in to check the footwork in Estoril. In two days he had the opportunity to pilot the team’s FA14. But on the second day, when he was going to put on new tires and feel more comfortable in the car, he had an accident in a motor home (he hit his head) and might no longer drive…
Gilles de Ferrand in an F3000 in 1993
Photo by: BRDC
In 1994 he continued in F3000 and fought for the championship until the end, winning two stages (Po and Perguza). But in the end the engine had problems and he finished 3rd (Olivier Panis won the championship). But the next step was F1.
Everything was going in his favor: Gil had the support of Jackie Stewart and some Brazilian money. But the teams’ requests were terrifying. Gil negotiated with Tyrrell, Footwork and almost ended up with Forti Corse. But the details were missing…
The F1 doors are closed. F1 failure
Another year in the F3000 was out of the question. But Indy’s opportunity was on the horizon. With the support of Phillip Morris, Gilles de Ferran faced the challenge of starting a new career. Practically from scratch, Gil began driving Reynard for the Hall team under the legendary sponsorship of Pennzoil. The results were not very good (14th), but they were completely unknown to the Americans (to the point that Gil made several stickers of “Who the hell is Gil de Ferran?”, which was the most frequently asked question in the paddock following the practice sessions for the first year of trial: who the hell is Gilles de Ferran?), he began to respect.
Gilles de Ferran in action with Reynard/Honda de Hall in 1996
Photo: Honda press room
And he tried to show who he is. In his second year, Gill was sixth, running well out front but suffering from strategy and reliability problems. For this reason, in 1997 Gil moved to Walker Racing. Even without winning any competition, but with great perseverance, he got second place.
But Walker was unable to keep up the pace in the following years, and Gilles de Ferran caught the attention of captain Roger Penske, who called him up to the team in 2000. It was a killer duo as Gill claimed his second title. In 2000, Gill set the fastest lap indoors at Fontana, recording 241.428 mph (388.541 km/h).
Gilles de Ferran celebrates his milestone in Fontana
Photo: Gil de Ferrán /
In 2001, Penske entered the car in the IRL, a category created in 1995 following the division of CART and that includes the Indy 500. In that edition, Gil finished second. Next year, Penske will definitely move to the IRL with an all-Brazilian duo (Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves). He finished third in 2002 and second in 2003, this time winning the Indy 500. He will leave CART at the end of this year.
Gilles de Ferrand, or the leader
After a year off, Gilles de Ferran was announced as BAR’s F1 Sporting Director in 2005. He was one of those responsible for Rubens Barrichello joining the team in 2006 and the transfer of the Honda team. But considering it “unnecessary”, he left his position in mid-2007.
With the “speed bug” still intolerable, Gil announced his return to the track in the North American Endurance Racing Championship with an official Acura LMP2 for his own De Ferran Motorsports team. In 2009, the team was proclaimed champion of the LMP1 category and the “host” took second place.
Once the season ended, he became a simple trainer and expanded his activities in Indycar by partnering with Luczo Dragon, founded by Jay Penske, Roger’s son. From Ferran Dragon Racing was born with Rafael Mattos at the wheel. Despite not having had a very productive year, the team bosses appointed Gil to represent them in the development of the new car that will be used in 2012. The team closed its doors in 2011 due to lack of money.
Gill continued in motorsport but attracted attention when he returned to F1 in 2018 to become McLaren sporting director. Zach Brown was leading the team at the time and had great ideas. One of them was returning to Indy. A year earlier, Gil de Ferran was Fernando Alonso’s “mentor” when he attempted to participate in the 500-mile race. And he took on the role of project manager for the 500 team in 2019, but to no avail when Alonso failed to qualify for the race. In 2021, Gil left his position to help develop the ExtremeE off-road electric car category.
Fernando Alonso and Gil de Ferran exchange helmets in 2017
Photo: Fernando Alonso / X
Gil was announced once more as a McLaren consultant this year. The goal was to streamline the team’s activities across a wide variety of categories, and Gil was going to be a “supervisor” of sorts. Expectations for 2024 were encouraging and Gil made the announcement at Interlagos, in the paddock of this year’s São Paulo Grand Prix.
But a few laps into The Concours Club in Florida, he felt sick and stopped. However, his heart failed and his engine stopped working at the age of 56.
Gilles de Ferran left a wonderful image as a driver and manager. Proof of this is that in 2013 the British magazine Autosport named him one of the 50 best drivers outside of Formula 1.
May the gods of motorsport receive you, Gil. And tell us how to maintain your image among your fans. On the racetrack of life, heroes never die. They simply change categories.
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