Sean Gelael drove in his first official practice session for Scuderia Toro Rosso at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Friday, and was able to take a number of positives away from the experience, the first of four he will participate in this season.
The Indonesian took over the car of Carlos Sainz Jr for the session around one of the toughest tracks on the Formula 1 calendar, and ended up eighteenth fastest ahead of the two Sauber F1 Team drivers, although his best time was 3.350 seconds off the best time of team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
Despite this, Gelael feels that in his future opportunities in the STR12 he will get closer to the pace, starting with the session in Malaysia next time out.
“What a great experience to drive in an FP1 session and be so close to home!” said Gelael, who’s main focus is racing for Pertamina Arden in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. “It’s an amazing feeling.
“Singapore is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar and at the start it was still a bit damp as well, so it wasn’t the most ideal to my F1 career, but in the end we managed well. I enjoyed it a lot out there and we were able to complete the programme, which is positive.
“Obviously, I’d like to be closer to Daniil, but that will be more of a target further on in the season. I’m happy with my performance today and I’d like to thank the team and everyone supporting me for this opportunity.
“I now look forward to my next FP1 outing in Malaysia in two weeks’ time!”
