Sean Gelael will participate in four free practice sessions 1 with Toro Rosso
The 20-year-old Indonesian Formula 2 driver, Sean Gelael, will take part in the free practice sessions 1 of the Singapore, Malaysia, United States, and Mexico Grand Prix for Toro Rosso.
The leaders of Red Bull’s sister team have not yet indicated in which seat the Indonesian will take part in these sessions. The young Arden driver had already participated in private tests following the Bahrain and Hungarian Grand Prix, also for the Italian team.
The teammate of Norman Nato in the Formula 1 feeder series is not a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and is currently ranked only twentieth in the championship in which he is already competing in his third season.
Sean Gelael’s father is the director of the Asian branch of the American fast-food group KFC and largely finances his son’s career. His name had also circulated as a candidate to buy out the defunct Manor team, which ran Indonesian driver Rio Haryanto during the first half of the 2016 season.
Sean Gelael says he is honored to be able to participate in these test sessions on Grand Prix events close to his home country: « What an incredible opportunity! First of all, I want to thank everyone who made this possible and especially for the trust they have placed in me. It is an honor to drive in Formula 1, in Singapore and Malaysia, two places that are so close to my home country, Indonesia. »
The young man approaches these four practice sessions seriously: « I will have the opportunity to absorb like a sponge everything I can and learn as much as possible. I hope to do a good job for Scuderia Toro Rosso and provide the team with good data from these important initial sessions. »
On his side, the director of the Toro Rosso team, Franz Tost, mentions the good work already done during the two days of private testing he has already participated in: « During the tests in Bahrain and Budapest, Sean performed very well, assisting the team in a very professional manner, with a mature approach to the complex task of providing engineers with useful feedback. »
The Austrian emphasizes the good impressions left within the team: « Everyone within the team was impressed by his performance, technical understanding, and commitment. As a result, we are pleased that he will drive during free practice sessions 1 for us at these four Grand Prix. I am sure he will do an excellent and useful job for the team. »
