Gil de Ferran was born in Paris to Brazilian parents. The early days of his career led from karting via Formula Ford to Formula 3, which he entered in 1991. By the end of the following season, he was already the overall winner of the British Formula 3 Championship. He spent the next two years in Paul Stewart's Formula 3000 team and finished the 1994 season in third place.
in 1995, de Ferran switched to the CART series and completed his debut season in Champ Car in a Hall Team Reynard Mercedes with a win at Laguna Seca and was honoured as Rookie of the Year. He then moved to Walker Racing for three years and finished second in the championship in 1997 with a Reynard Honda.
Now in the employ of Penske Racing, de Ferran won the title in 2000 and 2001 and the triumph at Indy in 2003, as well as finishing second in the final standings of the IndyCar Series organised by the Indy Racing League.
After retiring from active sport at the end of the 2003 season, he took a detour into Formula 1, where he worked in team management until 2007. After a brief return to active racing, de Ferran finally ended his career behind the wheel in 2009.