Hungaroring, Hungary, 18th July 2015 - Next weekend is a big one for Sean Gelael, as the Indonesian is making his debut in the GP2 Series in the races supporting the Hungarian Grand Prix.

However, it is also a low-pressure weekend, as 18-year-old Gelael is adding the GP2 programme to his main Formula Renault 3.5 Series activities simply in order to gain experience for whatever his main attack will be in 2016.

With the GP2 field already up to speed after a full season in the series, Sean will bring the Jagonya Ayam colours onto the grid with no experience at all in a GP2 car: his first time on a track with this high-powered machine will be in Friday’s free practice session, and then he will go straight into qualifying and the two races.

He has had a seat fitting at the Carlin factory in Farnham, not far from London, and is completing as much preparation as he can in order to make a good transition into the GP2 car.

“This is all about preparation for the future,” said Gelael. “I like the Hungaroring and have gone well there in the past, so that will be good. But the GP2 field is very strong so my main target is to learn as much as I can and compare as well as I can against my team-mate Julian Leal, who is one of the most experienced guys on the grid.”

The GP2 car is seriously fast. While a Formula Renault 3.5 car is powered by a 3.4-litre Renault V8 engine producing 530bhp, the GP2 machine has a 4.0-litre Mecachrome V8 that gives the driver 612bhp behind their shoulders!

The top speed in a GP2 car is 332km/h, and like Formula 1 racers it runs on Pirelli tyres. The characteristics of these are far different from the Michelins Sean is used to in FR3.5 and the Hankook tyres he used in Formula 3. With more degradation, that means the driver must look after the Pirellis over long distances.

Impressively, the GP2 cars are almost as quick as Formula 1, with the GP2 pole position time sometimes faster than the qualifying times set by the cars at the back of the Formula 1 grid.

Then, if you look at the experience of the drivers, that proves how much of a challenge Gelael is up against. His new team-mate Julian Leal made his GP2 debut in 2011, when Sean was just 14 years old, after two seasons in Formula Renault 3.5, in which the Colombian driver started competing when Sean was 12 years old!

It will be a tough challenge, but Gelael will fight hard to gain the experience he needs for the future while seeking the best results he can. (ms/arl)