NIO 333’s rookie driver Dan Ticktum discussed his frustrating Sunday, in which he earned his first-ever championship point after Andretti’s Oliver Askew received two post-race penalties.
The British driver fought hard from 20th on the grid to cross the finish line in 11th place, and then got promoted to the final points-paying position post-race. His teammate Oliver Turvey drove a momentous race from the very back of the grid to finish seventh, securing the team’s first double points finish since 2017.
However, Ticktum feels he could have walked away with an even stronger result from the fifth round of Season 8, following various issues that hindered his performance throughout qualifying and the race.
“It’s just been one of those days.” Rued Ticktum to Formula E Zone on Sunday. “I think we would have struggled in the race either way, but if we didn’t have the problem with split brakes in qualifying, I feel like we could have been about fifth in our group; maybe even into the duels.
“Literally every event that’s happened to me in qualifying and the race where something could’ve gone wrong, has gone wrong. It’s fair to say that Oliver beat me in the race, but I was definitely quite a bit quicker than him today (in qualifying).
“I’m happy for the team that we brought home a point and finished higher than expected, but half the field crashed. So all I did was just not crash!”
Despite the weekend’s many challenges, the 22 year old made sure to praise the team’s substantial progress after a strong lap saw him end the final practice session in fourth position.
“I think the team have made big progress with our qualifying pace, and the car this morning felt really good in practice.” He confirmed. “So that is very positive.”
“However, I have to say that the race did my bloody head in today!”
Looking ahead to Monaco, the scene of his second Formula 2 victory last year in the principality, Ticktum is eager to compete at the principality on a circuit he already knows very well.
“When I do the first couple of laps I’ll know where it goes, so that definitely helps in terms of hitting the ground running. I’m always quick at getting to grips with new tracks, but I think I’ll be slightly more settled going in knowing the circuit.”
