Old acquaintance returns to McLaren F1 team

The former Indy 500 winner will join the team this time as a consultant. "Gil is essentially a consultant, so non-operational," Andrea Stella reported to Motorsport.com. De Ferran already worked with Stella at McLaren between 2018 and 2020. At the time, the team was also in difficult circumstances but climbed on top. McLaren saw team boss Andreas Seidl leave for Sauber last winter and it sacked chief designer James Key. Stella moved on as team boss and the team appointed a three-man crew in the technical department, including David Sanchez from Ferrari. Although Sanchez is currently still on 'gardening leave' and may not start at the British racing stable until next year.

'Proven to be a very successful team'

According to team boss Stella, De Ferran's appointment is a great asset to the team. “Gil is not only very knowledgeable about racing, but is definitely strong in identifying talent, supporting talent. He's a great coach, is a quite brilliant strategic thinker." Stella is confident of turning the tide with De Ferran on board. He continues: “We have already proven in the past that this can be a very successful team having Gil on board, like in 2018, for instance, when we were able to turn a difficult situation at McLaren around," Stella concludes.