The Indy 500 winner's plan to fix McLaren's 'losing culture'
Indy 500 winner and two-time Champ Car champion Gil de Ferran brings impeccable racing credentials to his new role as McLaren sporting director. But how does he intend to navigate the choppy waters of team management? ANTHONY ROWLINSON finds out...
A chuckle from the driver's seat. Gil de Ferran has just flexed a big toe on the throttle pedal of the McLaren 720S he's piloting and it has surged. Very powerfully. He glances at F1 Racing, seated alongside. "Watch this."
A click on the right paddleshift. Another. In a flash, we are really moving, curving through the very Ardennes roads on which, in 1968, Bruce McLaren himself took the first grand prix win for the Formula 1 team that carries his name today. Cocooned in this carbon-fibre hypercar - 720bhp and a base price of £208,600 - alongside McLaren's new sporting director, briefly carefree as we enjoy the speed and sophistication of the machine, it's impossible to ignore how far McLaren has come these past 50 years.
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