A karting record at ten, a Formula 2 career that ended in 2020 and a second career in endurance racing with Team WRT and Jota.
Gelael is an Indonesian endurance driver who raced in Formula 2 until 2020 and then joined Team WRT in the World Endurance Championship. He won three WEC races in 2022 and scored two Le Mans class podiums, in 2021 and 2024.
Sean Gelael is an Indonesian racing driver whose career moved from European single-seaters into endurance racing. He raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship until 2020, tested for Toro Rosso in Formula One, and then built his reputation in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Team WRT.
His best results came in sportscars. He won races at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Fuji and the 8 Hours of Bahrain in 2022, and he took second-place class finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021 and 2024.
Who is Sean Gelael?
Muhammad Sean Ricardo Gelael was born on 1 November 1996 and is an Indonesian driver competing with Team WRT in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the son of rally driver Ricardo Gelael, and he has scored two Le Mans class podiums, both second-place finishes.
Gelael's early years were shaped by his father's sport. At the age of ten he became the youngest racing navigator recorded by the Indonesian MURI record organisation, after joining his father at the Rally of Indonesia from 2005. He then moved to karting, where he finished third overall in the 2011 Asian Karting Open Formula 125 Senior championship.
Two Le Mans class podiums, a Formula 2 career cut short by injury and a steady rise through the WEC.
How did Gelael start his car racing career?
Gelael began car racing in Asia with Formula Pilota China in 2012. He finished that debut season fourth overall and second in the Best Asian Trophy standings. That same year he drove for BVM at the final round of the Formula Abarth campaign at Monza.
In 2013 he moved to Europe with Double R Racing, competing in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship and the British Formula 3 International Series alongside Antonio Giovinazzi. At Silverstone he finished third in the second race, which was his first British podium, and he ended the British season eighth overall.
How did Gelael perform in Formula 3 and Formula Renault?
In 2014 Gelael signed with Carlin for the European Formula 3 season. He scored his first championship point in May at Pau, finishing tenth, and he finished the year 18th overall with 25 points. The following year he was 19th overall in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Carlin, where Tom Dillmann was his teammate.
What did Gelael achieve in GP2 and Formula 2?
Gelael's GP2 debut came at the Hungaroring in 2015, where he was 18th in the feature race and 20th in the sprint. In 2016 he competed full-time with Campos Racing, partnered by Mitch Evans. He finished 19th at Catalunya after starting 22nd on the grid, and his first podium came at the Red Bull Ring, where he finished second behind Evans, who won the race.
The championship was rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017, when Gelael moved to Pertamina Arden alongside Norman Nato. He lost the team battle that year and scored points in only four races. In 2018 he joined Prema Racing with Nyck de Vries, and his only podium of the season came in the Monaco feature race, where he finished second. He finished 15th overall with 29 points.
Gelael stayed with Prema in 2019, partnered by Mick Schumacher, but he again lost the team battle. He finished 17th in the drivers' standings after scoring points in five races. For 2020 he joined DAMS, replacing Sergio Sette Camara, with Dan Ticktum as his teammate. He scored points at the Red Bull Ring, finishing tenth and seventh, but a kerb impact in the Barcelona feature race broke a vertebra and kept him out of the sprint. Juri Vips replaced him for the next four rounds, and at the point of his injury Gelael had three points to Ticktum's 61. His father announced that his Formula 2 career would end after that season.
Did Gelael race in Formula One?
Gelael did not race in Formula One, but he did work with Toro Rosso in testing and practice roles. His first run in the Toro Rosso STR12 came during a test after the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, where he covered 78 laps. Testing continued through 2017 at the Hungaroring and Yas Marina, and he took Friday practice sessions in Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Mexico.
The association continued in 2018, with testing in Spain, Hungary and Abu Dhabi and a Friday practice session at the United States Grand Prix. In 2019 he joined a post-season tyre test for Toro Rosso at Abu Dhabi. These roles were supporting work rather than race entries.
How did Gelael's endurance career begin?
Gelael's first taste of endurance racing came in the second half of the 2015-16 Asian Le Mans Series season. He drove for Jagonya Ayam with Eurasia, alongside Giovinazzi, and the pair won both races they drove and finished third in the standings. He also made his FIA World Endurance Championship debut in 2016 with Extreme Speed Motorsports, competing in the last three rounds.
In 2021 he returned to the Asian Le Mans Series full-time with Jota in LMP2, partnered by Stoffel Vandoorne and Tom Blomqvist. Dubai brought him a second and a fifth, and he won both Abu Dhabi races, which left him runner-up in the standings. The same trio drove for Jota in the World Endurance Championship, and they finished second in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jota ended the season second in the LMP2 standings, because Team WRT won the final three races.
What did Gelael win with Team WRT in 2022?
In 2022 Gelael moved to Team WRT, the previous year's champions, alongside Robin Frijns and Rene Rast. He finished second at a rain-shortened race in Sebring, then took his first World Endurance Championship win at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The team's Le Mans race ended with a retirement after Frijns made an error and hit the barriers, despite starting from pole.
The season finished strongly. Gelael, Frijns and substitute teammate Dries Vanthoor won at Fuji, holding off the No. 38 Jota car in the closing laps, and Gelael added another win at the 8 Hours of Bahrain. The team still lost the title to Jota by 21 points.
How did Gelael's GT3 career develop?
In early 2023 Gelael lined up with Valentino Rossi and three other drivers at the Dubai 24 Hour, driving a BMW M4 GT3 for WRT. The lineup took third place, which gave the team a double podium that weekend. Later in the year he stayed in the WEC with WRT, partnered by Ferdinand Habsburg, and the team finished fourth in the teams' standings.
The 2024 season brought a full GT3 programme when the WEC moved to the LMGT3 class. Alongside Augusto Farfus and Darren Leung, Gelael won his first class race at Imola. At Spa he was caught in a heavy shunt caused by Earl Bamber, but he escaped unharmed. At the Le Mans 24 Hours the No. 31 BMW finished second in class, the only BMW entry to avoid trouble that race.
In January 2025 United Autosports confirmed Gelael and Darren Leung for the 2025 season, sharing the No. 95 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with Marino Sato.
Career summary by season
| Season | Series | Team | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | European and British Formula 3 | Double R Racing | Third at Silverstone (British race two) |
| 2015-16 | Asian Le Mans Series | Jagonya Ayam with Eurasia | Won both races driven; third in the standings |
| 2018 | FIA Formula 2 | Prema Racing | Second in the Monaco feature race; 15th overall |
| 2020 | FIA Formula 2 | DAMS | Tenth and seventh at the Red Bull Ring before injury |
| 2021 | ALMS and WEC | Jota | Won both Abu Dhabi races; second in class at Le Mans |
| 2022 | WEC | Team WRT | Wins at Spa, Fuji and Bahrain; title lost by 21 points |
| 2024 | WEC LMGT3 | Team WRT | First class win at Imola; second in class at Le Mans |
| 2025 | GT3 | United Autosports | Driving the No. 95 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo |
Where does Gelael's career stand?
Gelael's record is one of steady progress rather than a single breakthrough. His Formula 2 seasons were limited by accidents and technical failures, and his points-scoring was modest. In endurance racing, by contrast, he has collected class wins, WEC victories and two Le Mans class podiums.
His Formula One involvement remained at the testing and practice level, so his career is best described through his sportscar work.
