Gelael will use Round 2 “momentum” to push on

Sean Gelael was pleased to get his first points of 2020 on the board in Round 2, but as is usually the case with racing drivers, he wanted more. The DAMS’ driver is at least off the mark, and showed that there is plenty of potential in his new partnership with the reigning Champions.

Gelael drove from 16th to 10th in the Feature Race for his first point of the campaign, before adding to his tally in the Sprint, scoring seventh, although, the Indonesian believes that both results could have been even stronger.

“We had a really good start on Saturday,” he explained. “I was already up to 11th at the start, so I had confidence in the car. It was giving me confidence in the high-speed corners, so I was able to overtake.

“I think we boxed a little too late, because we had the pace for clean air, as did Dan {Ticktum}. I also made a mistake and went off when I was supposed to change tyres and I think that cost me reverse grid pole.

“We should have been higher up there. In the end, we fought back and towards the end of the race, our pace looked really consistent and strong, and we were able to finish in the points. If we had at least another straight, then I would have gotten Jack {Aitken} as well for P9. But, it was a good result regardless.”

Round 2 was certainly a step in the right direction for Gelael and his team. He was more consistent than in the first two races and clearly confident with the performance of his machine.

There may only be a week until Round 3 in Budapest, but if DAMS and Gelael can make further progress in the few days prior, then he’ll once again expect to fight for the points’ positions.

He explained: “It was a frustrating first round, and a frustrating start to this weekend as well to be honest. We were below where we were expecting to be in free practice and qualy in both cars. We just couldn’t get it quite right - both the team and drivers. I think that we fought hard after that, we found good pace and there was a good turnaround of the car.

“On Sunday, we gained again in the starts and the pace was quite good, but I couldn’t quite get close enough in the DRS to overtake the cars in front. The pace was there but we couldn’t exploit it.

“Hopefully, we can use this momentum to kick start the points finishes from here. Dan was able to do and we are both really similar in both race pace and qualifying pace. We need to put everything together for the weekend now.

"At least I have this experience under my belt now, so it allows me to understand a few more tricks for next weekend.”