Former Indy winner de Ferran leaves Honda F1 team

Former Indy 500 winner Gil De Ferran has left the under-performing Honda Formula One team, where the Brazilian had been sporting director. De Ferran, 39, who also twice won the US CART series with Penske Honda, said in a team statement that his role...

Former Indy 500 winner Gil De Ferran has left the under-performing Honda Formula One team, where the Brazilian had been sporting director.

De Ferran, 39, who also twice won the US CART series with Penske Honda, said in a team statement that his role had not turned out as he had hoped.

Honda said his departure was effective immediately.

"My decision to leave Honda has not been an easy one," said De Ferran, who joined the team two years ago.

"I simply feel that I came to this team to fulfil a particular role and it has not materialised as I had hoped."

Honda, race winners in Hungary last August with Briton Jenson Button, have scored just one point in nine races so far in this year's championship.

They have been recruiting heavily on the engineering and aerodynamic side in recent weeks while De Ferran's job has always been loosely defined.

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