Dan Ticktum at DAMS and Williams

Dan Ticktum’s career has been a rollercoaster, with very high highs and very low lows. His top speed and talent are undeniable, having won the highly demanding Macau Grand Prix in F3 twice in a row. However, his irascible character has also made headlines: in 2015, he was banned from all motorsport competition for two years for overtaking 10 cars under a safety car to deliberately collide with one of his direct rivals for the championship…

Until last year, he had retained the favor of Red Bull, which had sent him to Super Formula to follow in the footsteps of Pierre Gasly and obtain the necessary points for the Super License. However, his public statements claiming that his poor results could only be due to his team’s work eventually discouraged even someone who appreciates strong personalities like Helmut Marko. He was thus dismissed from the energy drink program last summer.

This was followed by a few months of going through a desert-like period, where his prospects seemed quite limited. However, he returned to the spotlight two weeks ago when DAMS announced that he would join the French team for the 2020 F2 season, alongside Sean Gelael. It’s all the more of an achievement considering DAMS comes off a campaign where they again secured the team title, with their drivers finishing second and fourth.

A new high was reached again today with the announcement that he also became a Williams test driver. He will therefore follow exactly the path taken by Nicholas Latifi last season. This allowed him (with the significant financial support of his father) to secure a full-time seat for 2020.

Now remains to be seen whether age and rough patches have matured the driver or if he will fall back into his old demons.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr