Sean Gelael will stay on with Prema Powerteam in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship as teammate to Mick Schumacher.
Prema announced Schumacher as its first signing on Tuesday and have completed their F2 line-up with Gelael remaining with the team for his fourth full year in the championship after starting with GP2 Series in 2015.
“This has been an up-and-down season but I want to say thank you for all the experience that we gained,” said Gelael. “The start of the year has been strong but from the middle onwards it turned a little gloomy.
“We know what we did wrong though, and what we need to do better and there’s quite a lot of unfinished business. I’m happy that the team put forward the trust in me to make an even better job next year.
“I just want to thank everybody involved. Together we have what we need to bring Prema to win the championship again next year and we will do the business right.” The Indonesian will 15th in 2018 with 29 points, scoring the lone podium in Monaco.
Team principal Rene Rosin added: “We are delighted to continue working with Sean for the new season. He scored promising results in 2018 and also proved to be a really valuable asset for the team thanks to his true dedication.
“He is the first driver to return for a second season since we started our Formula 2 programme so it will be interesting to understand the dynamics, but we are sure the benefits will be there as well as the results.
“We want to help Sean show his real potential and we can’t wait to start 2019.” Gelael becomes the fifth driver to be confirmed for the 2019 season who will kick-off their preparation with the test at Yas Marina later this week.
2019 F2 line-up so far:
ART Grand Prix – Nyck de Vries & Nikita Mazepin
Prema – Mick Schumacher & Sean Gelael
Carlin – Nobuharu Matsushita
