At the age of 56, Gil de Ferran, one of the best Brazilian drivers of the last 40 years, dies during tests on a Florida circuit
It’s the kind of news that, when it reaches us, we don’t want to believe. Especially when one of our heroes is gone. Even as we grow older, we have those we don’t forget. One of them is Gil de Ferran, who left us this Friday (29th).
Born in France, but arrived in Brazil at the age of 4 due to the work of his father, the engineer Luc de Ferran, one of the biggest names in the Brazilian automotive industry, Gil de Ferran has been involved in cars since tender age. He followed the natural path of drivers and started with karts.
After good results, he switched to cars and started in Formula Ford in 1986. Although many thought he had some protection thanks to his father, who worked in engineering at the factory (on the contrary), Gil proved to have talent and won the Brazilian Championship in 1987. And he left the mechanical engineering course (he followed in his father’s footsteps)
As was normal for those wanting to get into F1, Gil went to Great Britain and also started racing 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 leap to English F3, maintaining the Reynard chassis development line amidst the Ralt, finishing 3rd in the championship, behind David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello.
The following year he remained in the category, but returned to Paul Stewart Racing, with André Ribeiro as his teammate. Gil wins 7 of 16 races and wins the championship. As a reward, he had the opportunity to drive that year’s champion Williams FW14B at a rainy Silverstone in 1992, on his birthday (25/11).
Fast and technical, Gil fell into favor with the Stewart family and continued with the team until F3000 in 1993. In a somewhat bumpy year, he won a race at Silverstone and finished 4th in the championship. But his performance caught the attention of F1. And the Brazilian was called up for a test by Footwork at Estoril. In two days he had the opportunity to drive the team’s FA14. But on the second day, when he was about to use new tires and feel more comfortable with the car, he had an accident in the camper (he hit his head) and could no longer drive…
In 1994 he continued in F3000 and fought for the championship until the end, winning two stages (Pau and Pergusa). 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 scary. Gil negotiated with Tyrrell, Footwork and almost ended up at Forti Corse. But details were missing…
Door F1 closed. Bad luck F1
Another year in F3000 was out of the question. But the possibility of Indy loomed on the horizon. With the support of Phillip Morris, Gil de Ferran faced the challenge of starting a new career. Practically from scratch, Gil began driving the Hall team’s Reynard, with the iconic sponsorship of Pennzoil. The results were not the best (14th place), but they were completely unknown to the Americans (so much so that Gil had stickers made “Who the hell is Gil de Ferran?”, which was the most asked question in the paddock after training for the first test of the year: who the hell is Gil de Ferran?), made himself respected.
And he tried to show who he was. In year two, Gil was in 6th place, running well ahead, but suffering from strategy and reliability issues. For this reason, in 1997, Gil moved to Walker Racing. Even without winning any competition, but with great consistency, he placed second.
But Walker failed to maintain the pace in the following years and Gil de Ferran came on the radar of captain Roger Penske, who called him to the team in 2000. It was a killer duo, with Gil getting his second title. In 2000, Gil set the fastest closed-course lap at Fontana, clocking 241.428 mph (388.541 km/h).
In 2001, Penske raced the car in the IRL, the category created in 1995 with the split of CART and which covered the Indianapolis 500. In this edition Gil came in 2nd place. The following year Penske will move permanently to the IRL, with an all-Brazilian couple (Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves). He placed 3rd in 2002 and 2nd in 2003, winning the Indianapolis 500 on this occasion. He leaves CART at the end of this year.
Gil de Ferran, the director
After a sabbatical, Gil de Ferran was announced as BAR’s Sporting Director in F1 in 2005. He was one of those responsible for Rubens Barrichello joining the team in 2006 and handing over leadership of the team to Honda. But considering himself “unnecessary,” he left his post in mid-2007.
Since the “speed craze” was still strong, Gil announced his return to the track in the North American Endurance Championship with a factory Acura LMP2 in his team, De Ferran Motorsports. In 2009 the team was champion of the LMP1 class, while the “owner” ranked second.
At the end of the season he became manager only and expanded his activities to IndyCar, merging with Luczo Dragon, founded by Jay Penske, Roger’s son. De Ferran Dragon Racing is born, with Raphael Mattos at the wheel. Although the year was not very productive, Gil was appointed by the team bosses to represent them in the development of the new car which would start to be used in 2012. The team closed its doors in 2011 due to lack of money.
Gil remained involved in motorsport but attracted attention when he returned to F1 in 2018 to become McLaren’s Sporting Director. By then Zak Brown had taken over the team and had big ideas. One of them was to go back to Indy. A year earlier, Gil de Ferran had been Fernando Alonso’s “guardian” when he tried to race the 500 Miglia. And he took on the role of team project commander for the 2019 500 Miglia, but without success, when Alonso did not qualify for the race. In 2021, Gil left his post, going to help develop ExtremE, an off-road category of electric cars.
This year Gil was again announced as a consultant to McLaren. The goal was to streamline the team’s activities in the most diverse categories and Gil would be a sort of “Supervisor”. The expectations for 2024 were encouraging and Gil made a point of saying this at Interlagos, in the paddock of this year’s Sao Paulo GP.
But while doing a few laps at The Concours Club circuit in Florida, he felt ill and stopped. However, his heart couldn’t cope and the engine stopped working at the age of 56.
Gil de Ferran leaves a beautiful image as a driver and manager. Like few others he was able to combine speed, tenacity and technical knowledge. One proof is that, in 2013, the British magazine Autosport named him one of the best 50 drivers who did not race in F1.
May the motorsports gods welcome you, Gil. And we can know how to keep your image alive among your fans. On the trail of life heroes never die. They simply change categories.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
