Indonesian racer Sean Gelael’s natural agility and quick adaptation skills have apparently impressed the team principal of Formula One’s (F1) Scuderia Toro Rosso racing team, Franz Tost.

Tost said he saw huge potential within Sean that could lead him to a prestigious F1 place.

The Austrian, who met the press in Jakarta, said he noticed Sean’s racing ability shortly after seeing the Indonesian’s performance on a simulator machine.

“Sean was really good when using the simulator. We were satisfied with his job,” he said on Thursday.

After deliberation, Tost then offered the 20-year-old a test-driver job for his F1 team’s new racing car, the STR 12, in three opportunities — in Bahrain, Hungary and Abu Dhabi — throughout the 2017 season.

Toro Rosso is an Italian F1 racing team — one of two F1 teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red Bull. Toro Rosso functions as a junior team to F1’s Red Bull Racing with the aim of developing the skills of promising drivers for the senior team.

World champion Sebastian Vettel is among drivers who were groomed by Toro Rosso.

Sean has made history in Toro Rosso as he is the only test driver who has not originated from the team.

Sean, the son of former racer Ricardo Gelael, made his test driver debut with Toro Rosso last week in Bahrain, setting a noticeable pace for himself by reaching a top speed of 320-km/h during his 78-lap trial.

The driver with Pertamina Arden in Formula 2, a racing competition one level below F1, said he was quite familiar with the STR 12 settings, although he had to quickly adapt to the steering’s numerous buttons.

“The feeling was of course amazing. I, however, still need to learn to master [those buttons],” he said.

The Toro Rosso boss praised the debut performance, saying that Sean was on the right track to become an F1 driver. Tost said Sean was getting closer to his dream as the Indonesian was set to enroll in the Toro Rosso’s driver-grooming program.

Tost encouraged Sean to work harder in the future in order to qualify for the F1 driver job, adding that he would monitor Sean’s performance in F2.

Sean is seen as the possible next F1 driver from Indonesia, following the path of his senior, Rio Haryanto, who drove for the Manor Racing team in 2016’s first-half season. Indonesia’s first F1 driver Rio, who entered F1 as a paying driver for Manor, had to quit the season due to financial pressure. Neither Rio nor Manor are racing in the 2017 season.

With Rio’s absence from the 2017 season, Sean is now seen as a potential representative of Indonesia in the competition.

“I don’t want to conceal my ambitions to enter F1, but we need to do one thing at a time. I need to evaluate my performance in each race, and learn from my mistakes. I, however, intend to enjoy a natural process,” said Sean, who finished in third place at the 2016 Asian Le Mans Series with the Jagonya Ayam Eurasia team.

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