DAMS has confirmed an all-new driver line-up for its Formula 2 team in 2020.
Former Red Bull Junior Team driver Dan Ticktum will join the 2019 teams’ champions for his first full season in F2. The 20-year-old tested DAMS’ F2 car last year and raced in that year’s season finale for Arden.Ticktum lost his place in Red Bull’s driver development programme this year after the two-times Macau Grand Prix winner made a disappointing move into Japan’s Super Formula series, scoring just one point from the first three races.
“It’s an honour to be joining DAMS in Formula 2 for the 2020 season,” said Ticktum. “Having competed with them in GP3 in 2017, I’m looking forward to being back with the team and continuing to build on those successes.”
Gelael will enter his fourth season at this level. He drove for Prema in the last two seasons and the championship in 2016, when it was called GP2, with Arden. He finished 15th in his first two campaigns but slipped to 17th in 2019.
The 23-year-old said he is “really humbled that DAMS has accepted me as one of their drivers, especially after the year they’ve had winning the teams’ championship and with the tough driver market there is.
“Obviously, we’ll be looking to repeat that next season although it’s going to be challenging. We have big changes with the introduction of the 18-inch wheels, but we’ve got a great bunch of people that believe in their drivers.”
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2019 Formula 2 post-season test day one driver line-up
The post-season Formula 2 test will begin tomorrow at Yas Marina. The following drivers have been confirmed for day one:
Number | Driver | Team |
---|---|---|
1 | Nikita Mazepin | Carlin |
2 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin |
3 | Christian Lundgaard | ART |
4 | Marcus Armstrong | ART |
5 | Dan Ticktum | DAMS |
6 | Sean Gelael | DAMS |
7 | Guanyu Zhou | Virtuosi |
8 | Callum Ilott | Virtuosi |
9 | Mick Schumacher | Prema |
10 | Robert Shwartzman | Prema |
11 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz |
12 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz |
14 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos |
15 | Niko Kari | Campos |
16 | Felipe Drugovich | MP |
17 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | MP |
18 | Giuliano Alesi | HWA |
22 | Artem Markelov | HWA |
20 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident |
21 | Marino Sato | Trident |
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Formula Two
- Bortoleto clinches F2 title as Hadjar stalls and Duerksen wins finale
- Aron hit with double penalty for team’s illegal DRS modification, Hadjar gains a point
- Marti wins sprint race as Bortoleto extends points lead ahead of finale
- Martins beats title rivals Bortoleto, Aron and Hadjar to Yas Marina pole
- Bortoleto’s lead down to half a point as penalty hands win to Aron in Losail
tonyyeb (@tonyyeb)
4th December 2019, 13:53
I have absolutely no time for Ticktum. I don’t believe he has learned from his horrible mistakes in the past and Red Bull were right to drop him for the variety of reasons he presented them. His public comments are not fitting of someone in the public eye and if he makes it to F1 then I simply won’t watch again. For me, his actions under the safety car at Silverstone should have seen a lifetime ban from motorsport.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
4th December 2019, 14:17
@tonyyeb People make mistakes, he’s young and yes it was serious, but he served his time and redemption is wonderful if or when people make it. He’s made some stupid comments, but so has Lewis over the years, least give him the opportunity to better himself, nobody gains from him being ostracised because of the stupid things he did in the past.
Hugh (@hugh11)
4th December 2019, 14:29
He keeps making mistakes though. Sure, if he showed learning and growth from his mistakes then yeah, but he doesn’t, like at Macau when there were double yellows in qualifying because a car had crashed, the car before him slowed down and got through it fine, but he barely slowed at all and crashed into a stationary car. Dangerous. Arrogant. Shouldn’t be anywhere near this level of motorsport, nowhere near mature enough. And yeah, Verstappen did the same at Mexico, but doing it where you know exactly where the other car is is one stupid thing, doing it round a blind corner at Macau of all places is a whole new level of stupidity.
tonyyeb (@tonyyeb)
4th December 2019, 14:30
@bernasaurus But he is still doing stupid things. He has had quite a few opportunities to better himself but stuff like saying on Instagram “I am fighting a losing battle as my last name is not Schumacher” when he bottled the F3 championship. He had time to think about that before posting it. He will be 21 next year, a point where these days in F1 – maturity should have kicked in. He’s just a spoilt brat in my view. His attitude towards his Super Formula team this year was awful. Anyone who signs him must be desperate for his money.
anon
4th December 2019, 19:40
@tonyyeb, it seems that his attitude in the Super Formula season was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, because it seems Red Bull were deeply unimpressed by how toxic his attitude was when racing in that series.
The team manager and Ticktum’s team mate both spent quite a bit of time talking to Ticktum, explaining how the cars behaved in the Super Formula and how they felt that he needed to adjust his driving style to make the most of the cars in that series.
However, Ticktum flat out refused to listen to them – Nakano commented that Ticktum was extremely stubborn and refused to listen to any advice or to do anything differently to before. Ticktum has since confirmed that his attitude was “No, I shouldn’t have to change my driving style” – he chose to throw all the blame on the team instead, saying that he thought the car was damaged (damage that he caused in the first place) and complained that the team should have given him a new chassis instead, as he was utterly convinced that there could be no way that he was slower than his team mate (even though his team mate was a rather more experienced Super Formula driver).
It seems that Marko finally had enough of him when it became apparent that Ticktum’s stubbornness and refusal to accept advice and refusal to adapt was actively hurting his performance and made it almost impossible to work with him. Whilst @bernasaurus may talk about redemption, the problem is that any such redemption depends on the person being prepared to accept their flaws and work towards changing their ways – so far, Ticktum does not seem to have shown any signs of wanting to change his attitude and instead seems to believe that he has an automatic right to success.
José Lopes da Silva
4th December 2019, 14:52
Toro Rosso or Alpha Tauri?
Jere (@jerejj)
4th December 2019, 17:27
@José Lopes da Silva The latter starting from next year.
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th December 2019, 15:07
this could be the cover of a new single
Money Crazy by Dj Gelael and Rythum
something like that, with a hip-hop vibe to it
Jockey Ewing
4th December 2019, 22:00
Yes, i seriously expected Gelael has no more seasons in F2. He’s improving so slowly. At this pace he won’t be a F2 title contender for a decade. His championship results since 2013 are in the range 15th-30th at major series, with only occasiaonal exceptions.
Jockey Ewing
4th December 2019, 22:10
Jockey Ewing
4th December 2019, 22:12
oh hell, so you can’t link https
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBxzoB1OOIw
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
6th December 2019, 12:56
He has money though. nd that’s all you need to get good seats
pastaman (@)
4th December 2019, 15:22
What a lineup….
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
6th December 2019, 12:57
DAMS are clearly desperate to avoid challenging for titles
Ericglo
4th December 2019, 16:16
For those complaining about Latifi, what about Sean?????
He has been in F2 for four and a half years. Next year will be his fifth full season. With two second place finishes during that time, he was able to test a F1 car. Talk about little talent.
Ronny
4th December 2019, 19:32
Gelael has no talent when compared to Latifi to be honest..
DAllein (@)
4th December 2019, 16:19
What?!?!
Ticktum still has any driver’s license?!?
*facepalm*
I wonder how much he pays for this seat, for someone to look past his “quality”.
Jake
4th December 2019, 17:02
Ticktum has talent for sure, but that guy’s attitude is abhorrent. I’m shocked any F2 team would want him. And Galael, well… I think we all know he wouldn’t even be racing if it weren’t for the money he brings. This lineup is shocking.
John
4th December 2019, 19:38
Kid: Mom, can we hire Santino Ferrucci?
Mom: We already have Ferrucci at home.
Ferrucci at home: Dan Ticktum
Nate
4th December 2019, 23:27
Get over it John.
Craig
5th December 2019, 12:09
So if Raghunathan still has a seat, will he be banned from the first round? Will people be taking bet on whether he or Ticktum gets a meeting ban first?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th December 2019, 9:13
No, Raghunathan will not serve a ban at the start of next season:
https://www.racefans.net/2019/11/30/rules-loophole-means-no-ban-for-raghunathan-despite-reaching-12-penalty-points-again/