Gelael happy with great chemistry with Toro Rosso

Sean Gelael has expressed happiness over his "great chemistry" with the Toro Rosso Formula 1 team. The Indonesian driver took part in four first practice sessions this year in Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Mexico.

The team consistently praised Gelael's feedback, as he also drove for the team at the in-season tests in Bahrain and Hungary. The 21-year-old recently announced that he would be racing with Prema next year in the Formula 2 championship.

Speaking about his most recent test outing with the Red Bull junior team in Abu Dhabi, Gelael says he is quite happy: "In Abu Dhabi we weren't too competitive this year, so obviously we tried to learn what kind of difference could we make for next year.

"Beside that I learned a lot about the tyres, how to adapt to them the best way. You learn a lot of different things, especially when you do 117 laps – for example how to adapt your driving style to the different compounds.

"I think we have great chemistry together with the team, they trust my feedback as well as my driving. Obviously it's a good feeling to be acknowledged and to know that my feedback is just as good as the race drivers. That's the most important thing."

"I think we made decent steps, that one particular lap we did was quite good. The information we collected were really important, and during the race runs with all those tyres, we understood a bit more about the characteristics of the tyres. It's crucial for the development for next year – for the aero of the car, and to know, which part to focus on."

Fergal Walsh