McLaren Pays Touching Homage to the Late Gil de Ferran for His “Brilliant” Impact on Their F1 Success

In motorsports, a driver’s life, no matter the discipline, is always at risk. However, thanks to the increased emphasis on safety, fatalities while racing have become a rare occurrence. However, ever so often, we come across an incident that focuses on the omnipresent dangers. This is exactly what took racing legend and former F1 boss Gil de Ferran away from us. The passing of the Brazilian legend shook the world. Coming to grips with this tragedy, McLaren has now paid a touching tribute to the Brazilian.

Gil de Ferran’s demise sent shockwaves across the world of F1. However, McLaren recently hired de Ferran in an advisory capacity for their restructuring, as he had worked on the Woking outfit in the past. Now, this is one of the reasons why the McLaren F1 team was deeply impacted by De Ferran’s passing and later issued a heartfelt tribute.

“We lost a much-loved member of the McLaren Racing family at the end of 2023 as Gil de Ferran sadly passed away. Gil was many things to many different people: a true friend, a devoted family man, a supreme motivator and communicator, a brilliant engineering mind, and an extremely talented racer with an unquenchable thirst for motorsport.”

“He is often referred to as one of the best drivers never to compete in Formula 1, but that undermines the greatness he achieved in many other series. Although he never drove in F1, Gil did work in the series in various roles, including two separate spells with McLaren where he played an integral role in much of our recent success.”

“Our team’s heartfelt sympathies are with his wife Angela, his children, Anna and Luke, and all who loved him,” this is the official statement published on McLaren’s website.

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The homage truly showcases the impact that Gil De Ferran had on the team and in the world of motorsport. Moreover, his death had an equally large impact and put life into perspective for some of his colleagues.

Gil de Ferran’s death put life into perspective for fellow drivers

The shocking nature of De Ferran’s death sent a chill down the spines of every racing driver in his advanced years. Gil De Ferran was 56 years old and racing at Concourse Club, a private race track located in Opa Locka. The shocking aspect of his demise was that the Brazilian was pulled into the pits during the race with complaints of uneasiness. As it turns out, he suffered a mild stroke, which eventually took his life.

This shocking turn of events put life in perspective for NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace. The 60-year-old former driver took to Twitter to express his concerns about current lifestyles and how one can never get complacent when it comes to matters of health.

His tweet read, “Reading about, Gil de Ferran passing away at only 56 years old. This is so heartbreaking the way it happened. Pulled over while on the race track and said he did not feel good and never recovered. SIGH. My heart breaks for his family. Prayers to everyone involved. I try so hard to defend against something like this happening to me. Blood tests and complete physical every year. All we can do is try.”

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Both statements highlight the impact Gil De Ferran had on the world of motorsport and how his untimely death is cause for immense concern for everyone. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. May he rest in peace!