How Formula E's polarising newcomer can prove himself

OPINION: Few figures in racing today divide opinion like Dan Ticktum. The Formula 2 race-winner now has the chance to wipe his professional slate clean with his move into Formula E, but it won't be easy at the squad which has brought up the rear for the past three years. Here are the three key criteria he must meet to make a lasting impression on the series

Dan Ticktum is a polarising figure. While his progression up the single-seater ladder has been based on speed and not money, his temperament has repeatedly created backlash. When some desire motorsport to have more outspoken mavericks, just as many see no place for expletive-filled outbursts on team radio and live-streaming blunders deriding a points-scoring Williams Grand Prix colleague.

For every crime in Ticktum’s career to date, there has been a punishment. He served a two-year ban for wiping out Ricky Collard under the safety car in a 2015 MSA Formula race at Silverstone and was dropped by both Red Bull and Williams F1 development schemes for other matters.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.