F1 News - Sean Gelael to drive for Toro Rosso in United States FP1

United States Grand Prix – Toro Rosso will give F2 racer Sean Gelael some Formula 1 track time this weekend in Austin.

Toro Rosso are one of the very few teams that still have a seat up for grabs for 2019, due to the departure of Pierre Gasly to Red Bull Racing. Daniil Kvyat has been confirmed as returning to the team, taking on of the seats, but the second cockpit is proving more difficult to fill. Brendon Hartley has had a very difficult season with the team, while the most likely external candidate, Pascal Wehrlein, has just signed a deal to race with Mahindra in Formula E.

With just a few races remaining in the season, Toro Rosso are beginning to get proactive about trying to find the best fit for the drive next season, and have given F2 driver Sean Gelael a spin out in Austin. The 21 year old Indonesian driver currently races with Prema in F2 and is P15 in the standings with a best result of P2 in the Monaco feature race back in May. He has driven the Toro Rosso before, having done four practice sessions with the team last season as well as some in-season testing this year.

“I am super happy and excited to get things rolling again.” said Gelael. “I did FP1 in Austin last year so it’s a track that I know, even though it was a bit damp last year! The last time I was in the car was for the Budapest test, so I’m looking forward to working with the team again, hopefully they’re excited as well. The form Toro Rosso is in after Japan is quite strong so hopefully we can keep this momentum going.”