Like for so many Brazilian drivers, Gil de Ferran's racing ambitions were fueled by the achievements of the legendary Emerson Fittipaldi, the man who blazed their trail.
After kick-starting his career racing in karting in his home country, De Ferran moved to Great-Britain where he convincingly worked his way up motorsport's junior ranks, starting in Formula Ford and winning the British F3 championship in 1992.
At the end of that season, he was rewarded with a test with Williams, sampling the team's championship winning FW14B at Silverstone under the watchful eye of the outfit's 1993 driver Alain Prost.
McLaren's new sporting director never raced in Formula 1 burt he did achieve great success in the US, winning the CART series in 2000 and 2001 and triumphing with Penske at the Indy 500 in 2003.
