2003 Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran has died

Gil de Ferran - two-time CART champion and winner of the 87th Indy 500 - has tragically died after suffering a cardiac arrest at a private motor racing club in Florida. He was only 56.

A universally popular figure in the world of motorsport, de Ferran had recently been working for the McLaren F1 team in a consultancy role. He’d previously served as its sporting director, helping the team bounce back from its worst ever season in 2017 to finishing third in the constructors’ championship just three years later.

“Everyone at McLaren Racing is shocked and deeply saddened to learn we have lost a beloved member of our McLaren family. We send our deepest condolences to Gil de Ferran’s family, friends and loved ones.

“Gil was an important and integral part of our Racing team. He was a formidable force on and off track and made a lasting impact on everyone racing and working alongside him.

“He will be missed by everyone at McLaren Racing.”

Born in France but of Brazilian nationality, De Ferran won the British Formula 3 championship in 1992 before establishing himself on the other side of the Atlantic in the open-wheel CART series.

After winning the final race of his debut season he was a frequent podium finisher until he stitched together back-to-back, title-winning campaigns in 2000 and 2001. In the first of those, his qualifying average of 241.428mph at the Fontana Speedway was a world record for a closed course. Nearly a quarter of a century later, it still is.

In 2003 De Ferran was involved in a horrifying IndyCar crash in which he broke his back, but only a few weeks later - just 62 days, to be exact - he incredibly took the chequered flag at the Indy 500 ahead of compatriot and teammate Helio Castroneves. That’s Niki Lauda levels of recovery…

De Ferran narrowly missed out on the IndyCar title that season (the one-race absence after his accident proved costly) but having won the final race of the year, he called time on his racing career.

However, after a stint working for BAR-Honda in F1, he later got behind the wheel again in the American Le Mans Series, winning several events in an LMP2 car with a team set up under his own name.

Since his death on Friday afternoon, tributes have poured in from across the motorsport world. Mario Andretti said: “My heart sank at the news of Gil de Ferran’s death. It’s heart-wrenching. Thinking of him now and savouring every conversation. He will be missed by so many. A wonderful man and a dear and loyal friend.”

And Roger Penske - whose team won the Indy 500 with Gil in 2003 - said: “Gil defined class as a driver and as a gentleman. As an IndyCar champion and an Indianapolis 500 winner, Gil accomplished so much during his career, both on and off the track.”

“Gil’s passing is a terrible loss and he will be deeply missed.”

Image: Penske Entertainment