Dan Ticktum, Motopark, European Formula Three, 2018

Ticktum’s one-year ban cost him Red Bull F1 test chance

2018 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Red Bull junior driver Dan Ticktum missed out on his chance to test for the Formula 1 team this week because his one-year ban prevented him from acquiring the necessary licence.

The team has announced Daniel Ricciardo and simulator driver Jake Dennis as its drivers for the two-day test, which begins tomorrow at the Hungaroring.

It is known to have tried to arrange for Ticktum to drive the car. But as FIA race director Charlie Whiting explained Ticktum does not hold the necessary licence to drive an F1 car in an official test.

“You don’t need a superlicence to test a Formula 1 car, you require an A Licence,” said Whiting.

“For an A Licence you have to get 14 points, only four of which are based on results, five are given if you complete 80% of two championships that qualify, and five are given at the discretion of the driver’s ASN [national motor sport club]. So normally you’ve got 10, but Daniel didn’t get four for results.

“This is all because of his problem in the UK where he effectively got a two-year ban, half of which was suspended, and he missed two half-seasons. So unfortunately that’s the case, he simply didn’t qualify.”

Ticktum’s only qualifying championship result from the past three seasons is his sixth place in the 2015 MSA F4 (now British F4) season. He did not complete the championship after he was banned from racing for a year, with a further year’s ban suspended, for an incident at the Silverstone round.

Ticktum passed 10 cars during a Safety Car period and deliberately collided with rival Ricky Collard following a first-lap collision between the pair.

Start, European Formula Three, Hungaroring, 2018
Ticktum has won three F3 races this year
The ban meant he sat out much of the 2016 season. He returned to racing at the end of the year.

Red Bull appointed Ticktum to its Junior Team last year and placed him in the Formula Renault Eurocup. However his seventh place in the final championship standings did not earn him any further points towards his licence. He won the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix at the end of the season, but the FIA does not award licence points for the prestigious race.

Ticktum is racing in the European Formula Three championship this year, where he lies second in the standings, and has also raced in Japan’s Super Formula championship.

Whiting said drivers do not have to perform at an especially high level to gain a licence to test an F1 car. “You don’t have to achieve an awful lot to get an A licence, really.

“Literally all you have to do is complete 80% of two qualifying championships. It could be Formula Four, it could be Formula Three. Then only four points are required for performance. And then the other five you’re bound to get from your ASN. Unless you’ve done something to upset them.”

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Grounds for awarding an A Licence

Appendix L, Chapter 1 of the FIA International Sporting Code sets out what a driver must do to qualify for an A Licence.

4.3 To qualify for Grade A:
When a driver applies for a Grade A licence the following shall apply:
4.3.1 The driver must be the holder of a current FIA International Grade B licence;
4.3.2 The driver must have completed six events in Grade C Championships;
4.3.3 The driver must be at least 17 years old (the date of the birthday being binding);
4.3.4 The driver must have accumulated at least 14 points during the three-year period preceding his application (Championships and points listed in Supplement 1), including any points granted in the provisions of Articles 4.3.6 and 4.3.7;
4.3.5 The driver must have completed at least 80% of each of two full seasons of any of the Championships listed in Supplement 1;
4.3.6 Any driver who has completed two full seasons in Grade B Championships, or the FIA F3 European Championship, will be granted a one-off 5 additional points;
4.3.7 Any driver considered by his ASN to have the appropriate skills and experience may, at the discretion of the licencing ASN, be granted an additional number of points from 1 up to a maximum of 5 points
4.3.8 The driver must successfully complete a question session, conducted by his ASN, regarding the most important points of the International Sporting Code.

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39 comments on “Ticktum’s one-year ban cost him Red Bull F1 test chance”

  1. How’s this guy even in a car, let alone being pushed by RB for an F1 test? An effective one year ban for “deliberately crashing into rival Ricky Collard under Safety Car conditions having first illegally overtaken several cars in order to catch him” doesn’t show the kind of character you want in a road car, let alone a racing car.

    1. People should be given a chance to learn from their mistakes and improve as a person.

      1. @johnbeak He actively endangered Collard, his other competitors and marshals to deliberately use his car as a weapon.

        If a road user deliberately caused a collision on the roads, they would face very serious charges and multiple years in prison.

        Regardless of the fact he was young, his actions, in my opinion, should have disqualified him from ever holding a competitive racing license ever again.

        1. @willwood I don’t like excluding the possibility that people can reform, which I think an indefinite ban would do. I’m not aware of any incident since Ticktum’s return to racing that suggests he hasn’t learned his lesson (but I’ve not seen all his races).

          The MSA’s penalty is one of the strongest I can remember in recent history. Far greater than the FIA’s toothless response to Vettel’s deliberate contact under a Safety Car in Baku last year – notwithstanding the fact that was an order of magnitude less serious than what Ticktum did.

          And, as this development shows, Ticktum’s not out of its shadow yet.

          1. @keithcollantine You’re absolutely right in that an indefinite ban would prevent a genuinely remorseful and reformed character from being able to compete again without being forever condemned by what could’ve been a single moment of extreme recklessness. I’m also completely ignorant to the MSA’s disciplinary procedure and whether or not such a mechanism even exists to permanantly disqualify a competitor due to unsporting or dangerous behaviour.

            However, putting the actual regulatory realities aside, I feel that we need to keep in mind that holding a competitive racing licence is a privilege. It’s not just that Ticktum has the opportunity to race in a category like F3 – that he is even able to have a career as a racing driver at all is a privilege. I feel that on a fundamental level, a sport that carries such known risks as motorsport and requires qualifications to be able to compete at certain levels should view deliberately using a car as a weapon against a rival as a red line. A red line that if crossed should see an individual forfeit their privilege of having the opportunity to compete in motorsport.

            But yes, it can be argued that this is already the case with the two year ban (of which one year was suspended). It’s just that of all the examples of deliberately endagering and aggressive driving that I’m aware of, Ticktum’s behaviour was so egregious and so disturbing that I feel that even the severity of the punishment he received still did not feel sufficient.

          2. FlyingLobster27
            30th July 2018, 16:41

            @keithcollantine @willwood
            The Super GT World blog hailed Ticktum’s arrival in Super Formula with a parallel article between him and Satoshi Motoyama, who also had a fit of revenge back in touring cars in 1997, albeit without overtaking under SC en route to his clash with Osamu Nakako. While Motoyama never reached F1 beyond a couple of tests, he has become a well-respected driver and a multiple national GT and single-seater champion.

            As you say, Keith, Dan doesn’t seem to have repeated a serious offence since his return to racing, and the fact that the ban’s still slowing his career shows that it was quite the punishment. I’d say it was well-proportioned.
            However, I haven’t honestly seen how impressive he is that Red Bull seem in such a hurry to promote him. Hartley isn’t all that his WEC CV implied (many of his wins were gifts from the sister car), but are they that desperate?

          3. @willwood Agreed on this and @keithcollantine
            I feel a permenant ban is over the top, he had a strong penalty as it was and he should be allowed to recover from that.
            On the other hand – should one be able to live a privileged life competing in international motorsport after an incident like that? Being banned is not a death sentence, you just have to do something else in life.

            I’m sure he’ll continue to race. This will always chase him around though.

          4. You could also compare it to Stefan Mücke’s deliberate crash in silverstone in 2011:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94AmBfkcEzE

            I don’t think he got any real penalties for that except 10 grid penalty for the next race.

      2. Nope, it’s using a car as a weapon. That’s more than the red mist, that could have been fatal.

  2. Ok call me immature, but Ticktum?
    TICKTUM? 😂😂
    Omg that’s funny!!

    1. @pmccarthy_is_a_legend
      Not as funny as Jack Goff (BTCC)
      :)

  3. Vettel drove deliberately into Hamilton and got a 10 sec ime penalty?

    1. I’m no Vettel fan but he didn’t get back on the track, overtake ten cars during the safety car period and deliberately crash at speed. The two are not comparable.

    2. 10 sec ime penalty

      check again

    3. Vettel got a 10 second stop and go penalty, which means going into the pits, stopping in his box for 10 seconds with no work done on his car and then returning to the track. Combined this is over 30 seconds and is, I believe, the biggest in-race penalty that can be given.

      1. Surely a black flag is the next step up and in my opinion should have been shown if possible on that occasion.

      2. No. Black flag is the harshest. What Vettel deserved for his road rage…but…FIA top team appeasement.

  4. Total respect for this guy. And I thought Santino Ferrucci was a badass! He’s nothing compared to Ticktum!

    I think we should all pay more respect to drivers like this who don’t give a damn about rules or decency.

    No sarcasm here, just 100% honesty.

    1. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
      30th July 2018, 20:00

      You wouldn’t think they were ‘badasses’ if you were on the receiving end of it.

      1. @collettdumbletonhall, you are talking to an individual who has already said on this site that he thinks that any kind of ethical or moral standards are worthless – his behaviour paints the picture of a man who is a complete psychopath.

        1. Correct, ethical and moral standards only exist to enslave people.

      2. Um. yes, I would actually.

  5. I feel sorry for Ticktum, I really do.

    What he did in 2016 was deplorable, but he has served his time and is trying to get his career on track. He’s quick, he’s talented, he’s picked up a win in the most famous F3 race in the world (albeit slightly fortuitously) and Red Bull have signed him up in recognition of all this.

    The sad thing is that he will continue to be haunted by his red mist moment for the remainder of his racing career. All I can do is thank god putting a roof over my family’s heads doesn’t depend on what I did when I was 16/17…

  6. Really pleased to see his ridiculous loss of self control is having consequences and ideally it will permanently close the door to an F1 career. F1 already has enough drivers with dangerous emotional control issues – Vettel, Grosjean and Verstappen

  7. Schumacher and Senna did worse.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      30th July 2018, 16:35

      Whilst they were still unknown and didn’t have a seat in F1? Not a chance. Both were FAR too intelligent to act like that before they were viewed as some of the world’s best divers.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        30th July 2018, 16:36

        I should clarify, I’m not talking about football. That was a typo – i mean drivers.

      2. Senna climbed on Brundle in F3. Mostly on purpose…

        Schumacher drove in to Hill, to keep title hopes…and done it again

  8. Boo hoo, I guess?

  9. petebaldwin (@)
    30th July 2018, 16:32

    I didn’t know the story so i was reading this feeling sorry for him. Then I got to this part:
    Ticktum passed 10 cars during a Safety Car period and deliberately collided with rival Ricky Collard following a first-lap collision between the pair.

    Oh! Maybe not then!

    1. My exact reaction

  10. Neil (@neilosjames)
    30th July 2018, 16:52

    Great to see his penalty had a proper impact. But, having considered it, I suppose it’s also nice that he still has a chance to have a racing career.

  11. Not awarding points for the Macau Grand Prix is absurd. I guess it’s considered as just one event or round rather than a championship. But judging by its toughness and prestige, it should be rewarded some points.

  12. Bust stupid – even to me, a true Ferrarista…

  13. is this kid even that talented? additionally, incidents like this are bound to happen more and more as you put younger and younger drivers into these cars as the development process of drivers gets longer and starts earlier. how about we just have the odd dentist or heir to a fortune race – like the good old days ;)

  14. Inexcusable behavior but after serving his ban, he deserves a closely watched opportunity to show he’s learned his lesson. Without second chances, both Senna and Schumacher would have had much shorter careers…

  15. This behavior is the worst deliberate incident in the entire history of motorsports. Ticktum can proudly join the one-man club of Andrea Sassetti, the former Andrea Moda team principal, who allegedly was trying to kill his driver, Perry McCarthy, by instructing to install a broken steering assembly.

    Such a behavior must not be tolerated and deserves a life-long ban, in my opinion. It would as well open doors to smart and sensible young drivers.

  16. luke bennett
    31st July 2018, 10:35

    I don’t see what the big deal is here. He made a mistake in his past and he did his time for it.
    How many hold Senna as one of the greatest drivers of all time. Senna made F1 a contact sport.

    You have only have to look at Ticktums race at Norisring. his car was destroyed and the race was red flagged, he went on the win the next Race with a rebuilt car.

    I looks like what ever he does, theirs always going to be haters…
    to Win Maccau and BRDC Autosport award in 2017, he must be doing something right.

    Good luck to him.

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