Sean Gelael

**Muhammad Sean Ricardo Gelael** (born 1 November 1996) is an Indonesian racing driver. He was previously competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, racing for DAMS, and has recently joined Westwood Racing for 2022.

## Career

### Open-wheel single-seater formula auto racing

#### Karting

He won first place in Asian Karting Open Championship – Formula 125 Senior Open 2011.

#### Asian series

Sean began his car racing career in his native continent, competing in the Formula Pilota China in 2012. He finished his debut season fourth in the overall standings and second in the "Best Asian Trophy" standings. Sean raced for the BVM team in the last round of the 2012 Formula Abarth season at Monza.

#### FIA European Formula 3 Championship

Sean Gelael in F3 – Hockenheimring 2014
In 2013, he participated in the 2013 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season, joining the Double R Racing team. In 2014, he signed with Carlin to compete in the 2014 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season. He scored his first ever point in the championship on 10 May 2014 finishing 10th gaining 1 point in Pau Grand Prix. He finished the 2014 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season in 18th position with 25 points.

#### British Formula 3 Championship

He also competed in the 2013 British Formula 3 season alongside Antonio Giovinazzi. He claimed his first podium in F3 at Silverstone by finishing 3rd in the second race. He finished eight in the final overall standings.

#### Masters of Formula 3

He made his debut in the 2013 Masters of Formula 3 on 7 July 2013, but was forced to retire.

#### Formula Renault 3.5 Series

On 20 January 2015, it was announced that he will compete in the 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season with Carlin partnering with Tom Dillmann.

#### GP2 Series later FIA Formula 2 Championship

Sean Gelael made his GP2 Series début with Carlin Motorsport in Hungary on 24–26 July 2015. Gelael finished 18th in the feature race and 20th in the sprint race.

In 2016, Gelael competed full-time in the GP2 Series with Campos Racing partnering Mitch Evans. At Catalunya, Gelael finished 19th in the feature race having started from 22nd on the grid. Gelael had his first podium in Spielberg, Austria, where he finished in 2nd alongside his teammate Mitch Evans who won the race.

For 2017 Gelael moved to the Pertamina Arden team, joining Norman Nato. Gelael lost the team battle, finishing in points-paying positions just in four races.

In 2018 Gelael raced for the Prema Racing team, joining Dutch driver Nyck de Vries. He finished in 15th with 29 points, the highlight of his season being a second place in the Monaco feature race, although he did not score points again after that result.

For the 2019 season, Gelael remained with Prema, partnered by 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship winner Mick Schumacher. Gelael lost the team battle, finishing in 17th position in the drivers' standings by scoring points in just five races.

In 2020, Gelael left Prema to join reigning FIA Formula 2 teams' champion DAMS, replacing Sérgio Sette Câmara. Gelael was joined by two-time Macau Grand Prix winner and Williams Driver Academy member Dan Ticktum. Gelael scored points in both races of the second round at the Red Bull Ring, finishing tenth and seventh. He broke a vertebra from an impact with a kerb during the Barcelona feature race, and was unable to start the sprint race. He was replaced at DAMS by Red Bull Junior Team driver Jüri Vips for the next four rounds. At the time of his injury Gelael had scored three points, compared to 61 points for teammate Ticktum.

Due to string of DNFs (accidents and technical failures) and seldom scoring points in FIA Formula 2 Championship that contributed to poor seasons, Ricardo Gelael announced that his son Sean Gelael will no longer continue racing in Formula 2 after the 2020 season.

#### Formula One

Gelael driving a Toro Rosso during free practice for the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
Gelael had his first experience of Formula One machinery driving the Toro Rosso STR12 at the in-season test after the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, completing 78 laps. He continued to drive for Toro Rosso in a testing capacity throughout the 2017 season, including tests at the Hungaroring and Yas Marina Circuit as well as Friday practice appearances in Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Mexico. He continued his association with Toro Rosso during the 2018 season, appearing at testing days in Spain, Hungary and Abu Dhabi, and at the Friday practice session of the United States Grand Prix. In 2019, Gelael again took part in the post-season tyre test for Toro Rosso in Abu Dhabi.

### Sports car endurance racing

#### Asian Le Mans Series

Gelael made his Asian Le Mans Series debut in the second half of 2015–16 season. Competing for Jagonya Ayam with Eurasia alongside Antonio Giovinazzi, the pair won both races they drove in and finished third in the standings. Gelael returned to the series for the full 2021 season, driving for Jota Sport alongside Stoffel Vandoorne and Tom Blomqvist in LMP2. He finished second and fifth in Dubai and won both races in Abu Dhabi.

#### FIA World Endurance Championship

In 2021 Gelael will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, partnering Formula E drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Tom Blomqvist in a Jota Sport LMP2 class squad. Previously Sean Gelael competed in the World Endurance Championship was in 2016.

## Personal life

Sean Gelael is the son of the owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise for Indonesia Ricardo "Kadok" Gelael and actress Rini S Bono. He is also the grandson of Dick Gelael, the founder of Gelael Supermarket.