Dan Ticktum should have been on the Formula 1 grid in 2019, because Red Bull wanted to get him into Formula 1 as soon as possible. A winter campaign in the Asian Formula 3 winter championship should have earned him enough super license points, but things turned out differently. Although his results were not great either, a late decision by the FIA proved fatal. According to the FIA, the season of three appointments was too short to actually award points.
So it was not Formula 1, but the Super Formula in Japan. However, the championship team he played for with the support of Red Bull and Mugen (Honda) was not as strong as in the previous season and after disappointing results, Ticktum had to give up his Red Bull membership.
“For two weeks I then did nothing at all and tried to let it go as well as possible”, Ticktum says about that time in conversation with Formula Scout: “Then we had to make the decision. Were we going to continue in motorsport with Formula 1 as the ultimate goal, or were we going to do something else?”
Ticktum and his entourage opted to approach all Formula 1 teams, invariably being told to perform well in Formula 2 and then they would look further. Two teams immediately wanted to include him in a supporting role: “Williams offered me the best package. With that team I had a better chance of being on the grid within a few years.”
And so Ticktum has been allowed to call himself a Williams development driver since 2020, although luck was again not with him. The coronavirus prevented him from working with the team on location, as he is not allowed to leave his Formula 2 bubble. After all, with DAMS he got the chance to compete for a top team in Formula 2, something for which he is very grateful.
His Williams activities are now limited to some simulator work every now and then, but that is not over due to the corona virus. Everything may look a lot brighter for the Briton in 2021. He hopes to play for another top team in Formula 2, the championship in which he currently occupies tenth place in the championship with one victory. And possibly that the promised free practice for Williams will also come.
Can Max Verstappen beat Mercedes in Bahrain if Mercedes loosens the reins a bit? All about the Bahrain GP in the latest edition of RacingNews365’s Formula 1 podcast, which can be heard below.
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