Sean Gelael surprised even himself to claim his maiden GP2 Series podium as he finished second to Campos Racing team-mate Mitch Evans in the crazy Feature race at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday.
The Indonesian racer had started down in eighteenth position, eight places behind his more experienced team-mate, but drove a strong race, and might have even secured victory himself but for a mistake whilst battling Evans on track.
Gelael made the most of the changeable conditions in Austria, driving strongly when the track was at its wettest and trickiest, and was rewarded with his first GP2 podium.
“I had a disappointing qualifying yesterday, I should have been closer to Mitch but I did a lot of mistakes,” said Gelael on Saturday. “However, we knew our pace was strong.
“But starting from P18, I knew it was going to be a tough race and that it would be difficult to score points. I think we were P14 after the first lap and I thought we could fight for the top ten. Then the rain showed up.
“We weren’t too sure if our strategy would work because we were not expecting too much rain. But thankfully it didn’t rain in every parts of the circuit. Then the Safety Car came out when Pierre went off at Turn 1.
“My pace was really quick then. I overtook Mitch but I made a mistake in Turn 2, which probably cost me the win. But it’s still a good result and I’m happy with that.”
