Ticktum hits back at criticism after making comments about team

Dan Ticktum downplayed comments he made about his team on the Formula E broadcast after he wasn’t able to use full power in his Quarter Final qualifying Duel in the second race of the Monaco E-Prix.

Cupra Kiro’s driver went head-to-head with Nyck de Vries in the Duels portion of qualifying, but didn’t have access to the full complement of 350kW during his fast lap, handing an easy win to de Vries.

“The team just messed up what mode the car should be in and I didn’t get to go 350kW,” Ticktum said on the broadcast. “I got 350kW on the out lap, and then it cancelled on the start/finish straight. So that’s just great, isn’t it…

“I’ve done my job this weekend; it’s just not good enough. I suggest I don’t talk to my team for at least two hours, because I think I might punch someone.”

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard, part of Formula E’s broadcast team in Monaco, hit back at Ticktum’s comments, saying, “It’s funny to watch, but the team are there when you’re doing well, and you’ve got to be there for the team when things aren’t going so well.

“I’d put him in a room with a mirror if he wants to go and punch somebody,” the 13-time grand prix winner said.

Ticktum’s comments were subsequently met with a backlash on social media, and after the conclusion of Sunday’s race, he took to Instagram to set the record straight on his perceived attitude towards his own team.

“The first thing I want to address very quickly is Formula E posted some clips earlier that have obviously been massively taken out of context when my car didn’t go into high power mode in qualifying, which is obviously rather frustrating,” he said in a story post. “People are saying I’ve got a bad attitude and I don’t have any respect for the team. Those are clips that are taken out of context and are not a true reflection of how I treat people in the team.

“Why would I have been employed in the same team for four years if I was so terrible?”

He went on to say, “In every other interview I’ve been doing I’ve been praising the team and saying thank you to them and everything and people just look at one clip and it’s like, ‘Oh great, yeah I’ve got my excuse to hate on Dan again.’”

Ticktum, who went fastest in both Saturday practice sessions, said that he thought he had the pace to take pole position on Sunday, and that he and the Cupra Kiro team “didn’t get what we deserved this weekend” after a seventh place on Saturday, and a 15th on Sunday after contact with Nick Cassidy.

“Pace has been really, really strong,” he said. “Obviously didn’t progress in qualifying because I didn’t get the right power mode and get full power, so that was a shame, but I had the pace for pole, I reckon, so that was a bit disappointing.

“Then in the race I had some contact with Cassidy – I haven’t actually seen the replay yet. I’ve been told it’s a bit ‘racing incidenty,’ but after Turn 4 he came across and hit me slightly which caused me to have a bit of a snap, so I lost the rear of the car, then locked up the front, then just went straight on and missed the corner. That was pretty much the race done.

“It’s a shame because we had really good pace in the wet and dry this weekend and unfortunately not only for me, but I also feel bad for the team who have really made steps and worked very hard this year to get the car in a better window. We’re much faster and we didn’t get what we deserved this weekend, so onto the next one.”