Gelael started racing in 2005, where he became the navigator of his father in
Rally of Indonesia. In 2007, he set a record from
MURI for being the youngest racing navigator at the age of ten.
Karting In 2011, Galael competed in the Asian Karting Open Championship – Formula 125 Senior Open 2011, finishing third in the overall standings.
Lower formulae Gelael began his car racing career in his native continent, competing in the
Formula Pilota China in 2012. He finished his debut season fourth in the overall standings and second in the "Best Asian Trophy" standings. He raced for the
BVM team in the last round of the
2012 Formula Abarth season at
Monza.
FIA European Formula 3 Championship 2013 In 2013, Gelael participated in the
2013 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season, joining the
Double R Racing team. During the same year, the Indonesian driver made an appearance in the
Masters of Formula 3, although he was forced to retire from the race.
2014 in the
2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship In 2014, Gelael signed with
Carlin for the
2014 season. On 10 May 2014, he scored his first ever point in the championship, finishing tenth and therefore scoring one point in the
Pau Grand Prix. He finished the season in 18th position with 25 points.
British Formula 3 Championship Gelael competed in the
2013 British Formula 3 International Series alongside
Antonio Giovinazzi, driving for
Double R Racing. He claimed his first podium in at
Silverstone by finishing third in the second race. He finished eight in the final overall standings.
Formula Renault 3.5 Series On 20 January 2015, it was announced that Gelael would compete in the
2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Carlin partnering with
Tom Dillmann. He finished 19th in the overall standings.
GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship 2015 Gelael made his
GP2 Series debut with
Carlin Motorsport in the
Hungaroring in the
2015 season. He finished 18th in the feature race and 20th in the sprint race.
2016 In
2016, Gelael competed full-time in the GP2 Series with
Campos Racing, partnering
Mitch Evans. At
Catalunya, he finished 19th in the feature race having started from 22nd on the grid. He scored his first podium at the
Red Bull Ring, where he finished second behind his teammate Evans, who won the race.
2017 with
Pertamina Arden With the championship rebranded to the
FIA Formula 2 Championship, Gelael moved to the
Pertamina Arden team for the
2017 season, joining
Norman Nato. Gelael lost the team battle, finishing in points-paying positions just in four races.
2018 at the
2018 Spielberg Formula 2 round Gelael raced for
Prema Racing in the
2018 season, joining
Dutch driver
Nyck de Vries. In the
Monaco, he scored his only podium for the season, finishing second in the feature race. He failed to score points for the rest of the season following his podium finish. He placed 15th with 29 points in the overall standings.
2019 for his second season with
Prema For the
2019 season, Gelael remained with Prema, partnered by
2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship winner
Mick Schumacher. He lost the team battle, finishing in 17th position in the drivers' standings by scoring points in just five races.
2020 Gelael left Prema to join reigning FIA Formula 2 teams' champion
DAMS for the
2020 season, replacing
Sérgio Sette Câmara. He was joined by two-time
Macau Grand Prix winner and
Williams Driver Academy member
Dan Ticktum. He scored points in both races of
the second round at the Red Bull Ring, finishing tenth and seventh. He broke a
vertebra from an impact with a kerb during the
Barcelona feature race, and was unable to start the sprint race. He was replaced at DAMS by
Red Bull Junior Team driver
Jüri Vips for the next four rounds. At the time of his injury he had scored three points, compared to 61 points for teammate Ticktum.
FIA Formula 2 departure Due to a string of accidents and technical failures, followed by Gelael's seldom points-scoring performances in FIA Formula 2 Championship that contributed to poor seasons, Gelael's father Ricardo Gelael announced that his son will no longer continue racing in Formula 2 after the
2020 season.
Formula One during free practice for the
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix Gelael had his first experience of Formula One machinery, driving the
Toro Rosso STR12 at the in-season test after the
2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, completing 78 laps. He continued to drive for
Toro Rosso in a testing capacity throughout the season, including tests at the
Hungaroring and
Yas Marina Circuit as well as Friday practice appearances in
Singapore,
Malaysia, the
United States and
Mexico. He continued his association with Toro Rosso during the season, appearing at testing days in
Spain, Hungary and Abu Dhabi, and at the Friday practice session of the . In 2019, Gelael again took part in the post-season tyre test for Toro Rosso in Abu Dhabi. == Sportscar career ==