INDYCAR SERIES: INDIANAPOLIS 500

May 25, 2003

Gil de Ferran

GIL DE FERRAN: Well, thank you. First of all, just wanted to say that I always saw what was going on during the month, particularly with Helio, was something very natural. And let me tell you, I have no bitterness towards him or no jealousy. I mean to me, Helio is a great driver and he deserves all the attention that he's getting because he's certainly one of the best in the business and he has accomplished a lot, particularly here. And for me, it was just about staying focused. And I tell you when I crossed that line, I don't know, it was a lot of things going on in my head. Then you try not to think about it beforehand because I think that really gets your eye off the ball. So whenever something like this happens, it always comes as a surprise. Never know how I am going to feel, and it was an unbelievable feeling, certainly coming back from the accident, and again, I had a great feeling of pride for belonging and I say this not just because Roger and Tim are here, but belonging to this organization. You have no idea what went on behind the scenes. I could speak here all day and you still won't understand what went on behind the scenes for this month of May to turn out the way it was, and really I was overflowing, I guess, with emotion. And for me, you know, I always dreamed of winning this race. Certainly I have won championships and all that, but this is one of the most prestigious prizes in international racing. To cross the checkered flag, I am like, it is really happening (laughs). Because you don't -- I don't allow myself to get carried away. And certainly those last few laps there was very difficult, very difficult to stay focused.

GIL DE FERRAN: I don't know if it has really. I had a very fortunate career to have been able to win many races and many championships. Mostly fortunate to be working with some great teams and, you know, suddenly have accomplished more than I could -- when I started racing as a 14-year-old boy, I didn't know how far I was going to get. And I guess it hasn't really sunk in. The very fact that you are asking me that question sometimes, like takes me aback. I guess I will tell you next week when I consider the question a little bit more (laughs).

GIL DE FERRAN: I was in pain, I have to admit. My shoulders, halfway through the race, started cramping, and I really had a hard time putting my hands, especially the left hand, and it was getting more and more and more and more painful, really getting more and more difficult to work it out. So I really couldn't lift it to kind of rest a little bit there before I could, you know, on my arms.

GIL DE FERRAN: My back wasn't hurting, but I don't know, I have got to find out what happened. Maybe it was something to do with the neck. But both here, behind my shoulders is really painful.

GIL DE FERRAN: Yeah, I climbed the fence with my friend, yeah, they missed it. (Laughs). No, I will tell you I don't know, maybe never been carried away, but maybe it is going to happen tonight when the cameras are not on.

GIL DE FERRAN: I pride myself on focusing on the moment. Taking one step at a time, you know, not carrying anything with me from behind; certainly I use things as experience, you know, and that forces my knowledge but I am very focused at the moment and the job that I have to do at that point in time. Throughout this moment -- first week was all about qualifying, not any big psychological thing about what is going on here and there and everywhere. It was just about getting the job done for qualifying. And then the next week was getting the job done for the race and throughout the race I was focused. First of all, not to get into trouble, and then when the strategy and the good stops and everything propelled me forward, then I said, okay, now I am in good position and try to take opportunities; just focus on the job more than anything else.

GIL DE FERRAN: I don't know. All I can tell you when I finished second to him in 2001, for me it was a mixture of happiness and sadness because you are so close and yet so far. And you are happy for him because, you know, certainly, I consider him to be my friend and I have a lot of respect for him. You are happy for the team because they finished one, two, and with the feelings that I have for those people on the team are very true and sincere. So when you finish one and two it's a joy for everybody. But from very deep down inside, from your own personal standpoint, you are like, eh, and maybe he's feeling that way, I don't know. You have to ask him.

GIL DE FERRAN: It was very spontaneous because we were sitting there and okay, catch the brakes, catch the brakes, thought it was appropriate. Then I thought, Helio was just here a minute ago, and the crowd was -- they were screaming. I am like, I know what I am going to do. (Laughs). But I couldn't do that all by myself. I had to have him there with me.

GIL DE FERRAN: From a scale of one to 10. Probably a 9.99999999. I mean, all joking aside, it's overwhelmed me, it really has overwhelmed me. You always think, oh, man, if that ever happens to me, it would be a great opportunity for me to say something interesting and intelligent, and (laughs) I am afraid it kind of shuts off and you are like, duh. It is really difficult to put into words what you feel. My memory goes back to when I was a kid, you know, and everything that went on recently, just shifts backwards and forwards, and my family and friends and these two gentlemen next to me, I don't know, all my desires really to me it seems happening at once, that's why -- when it comes time to say something, it just doesn't come out.

GIL DE FERRAN: You have got to talk to Tim. He's the guard dog.

GIL DE FERRAN: It's a mental perspective, isn't it? From his perspective, I am an old man. But there is a lot of people in the room here that would call me a young man. So (laughs) it depends where you look from. Hey, look, I am 35, now from a personal standpoint, I don't feel I am driving any worse than I was driving when I was 18. In fact, I feel I am driving better. I don't feel like I am any slower, I don't feel like I take any less chances than I did when I was 18. I am probably, you know, my judgment is probably more polished than it was when I was 18. But I still do stupid things like I did in the first lap in Phoenix. (Laughs). But what can you do?

GIL DE FERRAN: Sure. Whenever Helio was catching traffic, I was trying to get closer to him. I was not trying to follow him too close because I was having difficulty just staying behind him all the time because he was running on the right front all the time. I am like, okay, let him go a little bit, try not to use up my right front too much. And then when I saw traffic in the horizon, I am like, okay, time to get close to him again. Certainly, they had a good stop there and he was a little distance ahead of me, and I was flat out trying to catch him. I was sure there was a lot of cars, you know, that we were going to end up catching. So I felt, okay, this may be an opportunity, and certainly he got bogged down there in Turn 2, real bad, actually, and he came out of there really slowly. And when I saw that developing, I was coming down Turn 1 and Turn 2 really fast, had a full head of steam coming down the back straight and it was just a matter of picking -- the difference in speed between us at that point was so great that I could pass him. Once I was in the lead, I am like, okay, now concentrate, and you know, you got to do your job.

GIL DE FERRAN: Let me tell you, this has been a tremendous month of the year, no doubt about that, everybody tells me it is only 30 days or 31, but I guarantee you it's more. Those 40 laps, there were no way there were only 40 laps. (Laughs). There were a lot more than 40 laps. Every time -- the restart, certainly there's always an opportunity, if you are challenging and I know Helio will be all primed up for those restarts, I am like, okay, here we go again and again and again, but thankfully, it all worked out.

GIL DE FERRAN: I think that's what families are for, for you to share those precious moments with them. And they are the people that you love the most and you know, I am not a loner, so I like to share those moments with the people that I love and certainly my family is on the very top of the list.

GIL DE FERRAN: I didn't even think about it. I mean, that may sound a little harsh but it is back to the thing to the other question earlier, it's what I am doing at the time, what do I have to do, what is my job here, you know, and focus, focus, focus. Certainly I was very grateful when I joined the team and Roger said, hey, we're going to Indy, I said, you are the man.

GIL DE FERRAN: I think if you met Tony and Helio off the track you find that it is impossible not to like them. They are really genuinely nice people, never mind they are race car drivers and stuff like that, you know, I would say that certainly all three of us have been racing for several years since we were -- Tony started when he was nine or something and Helio when he was 11 or something. Anyway, something along those lines. So you get to a point where you learn how to separate things. And Tony and Helio and I, we race hard, and but we also happen to like each other. Like I said Helio is certainly one of my best friends these days and I just like to spend time with the guy. We put the helmet on, I know what he's there for and I respect that. He's there to try to win the race for himself and I respect that. I think -- all stems from that understanding that you understand what the guy's role there is. And by trying to win the race he's going to essentially have to beat you and the same thing with Tony. As long as you have that understanding I think everything goes smoothly.

GIL DE FERRAN: It's hard to say. I think the only thing that's a common thread is when I was driving for the Jackie Stewart back in Europe, Jackie was always very big on emotional control. You have got to keep yourself rational, it is much better than keeping yourself emotional. It was clear to me that that was certainly the way to go, you know, one thing is say it and the other thing is to do it. And I certainly worked very hard to keep myself as unemotional as I have to throughout when I have to perform, but on the other hand, you know, when I let go, there's all this you know, everything comes flooding in and is a real mess. So that's really, I think is the opposite of that exercise. I don't know if I made any sense or not.

GIL DE FERRAN: Thank you.