The debut for Formula E in Jeddah provided a debut for Pit Boost, the emergence of a new UK star and the complete flipping on its head of the title race. Motorsport Week was in Saudi Arabia for all the news and gossip.
Ticktum’s ‘tantrum’ triggers the misinformed
The longer MW’s Formula E Editor has been around the paddock, one lesson that he has learned has been that Dan Ticktum is not quite the character that non-endemic watchers of Formula E believe he is.
Ticktum’s younger days in the F1 feeder series, and one or two radio outbursts, has unfortunately rendered him with labels like “bad boy,” and his expletive-laden rant to his engineers during Race 1 in Jeddah enabled such a conversation to rear its head again.
Being told that his car needed a system reset on top of his battery recharge in the Pit Boost portion of the race, Ticktum was understandably irked by the situation, particularly given he is now racing a car that is, by far, the quickest he’s ever driven in FE.
Several F-Bombs that dropped in the conversation has now made it onto social media, with many non-hardcore FE fans quickly putting the young Brit down, but what was also broadcast, which did not fit the narrative, was that he gave a “disclaimer” saying he was not angry at his team, but at the circumstances which presented themselves to him.
It is not a journalist’s position to be partisan to any driver whatsoever, but it is worth making that point that, every time Motorsport Week has spoken to Ticktum, he has been courteous, friendly and always willing to give answers to questions.
Prior to Race 1, Ticktum told MW that whilst “there’s more pressure” given the Cupra Kiro team now have to perform with its new investors, the lack of financial stress is “one less thing to worry about,” and that he has confidence in himself “to deliver the best in all situations.”
Chomping at the bit, Ticktum conveyed frustration that he now has a two-month gap from Jeddah to Miami in April, saying he’d like there to be 15 race weekends a season.
Female representation in Jeddah provides ‘further opportunities’ for a full-time Formula E seat
Jamie Chadwick once again filled the cockpit of the Jaguar in the rookie test prior to the weekend’s action, having done so in the all-female test in Madrid in November.
She was joined by Tatiana Calderon, who had run with Maserati in Spain, but this time represented the Lola-Yamaha-ABT outfit, revealed to Motorsport Week that she had received the offer from Lola’s Chairman Till Bechtolsheimer after Mexico, with the pair then racing together in the Daytona 24 Hours.
The Colombian was buoyant about the chances of a full-time female driver in Formula E very soon, saying: “I would wish nothing but that really and I think that kind of opportunity really creates further opportunities so I’m really grateful that they did that because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that so I think sometimes you have to force or to encourage people to take chances in female drivers and I’m glad that it’s Jamie and me this time, but who knows in the future so hopefully we’ll see another woman full time here very soon.”
Barnard continues to surprise everyone, including himself!
The continued strength of the Nissan powertrain is being enabled, to the max, by NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard. After making into the semi-finals of qualifying ahead of Race 1, Barnard took a second third-place of the season.
Speaking to Motorsport Week after the race, Barnard said he did “absolutely not” foresee his season starting this way. He added that he envisaged qualifying for Race 2 “a little bit more irrelevant,” however this did not stop him from becoming Formula E’s youngest-ever pole-sitter. His aim was to “control it from the front,” and he gave it a good go, losing-out only to winner and new title leader Oliver Rowland.
Leaving Jeddah also second in the championship, Barnard said he was “super happy,” adding that whilst he intends to add to his records and become the youngest-ever FE race-winner soon, he said he “can’t complain,” adding, saying “the main focus is to just score big points.”
Cassidy happy to get points ‘on the board’ amid fractious weekend
It’s been a shame to see such a talent as Nick Cassidy cut an unhappy figure so far in Season 11. No points up until Race 2 in Jeddah, the Kiwi put on a typical peloton display, making his way through the pack in a comparatively-uncompetitive Jaguar to take fifth place.
“We needed that,” he told us. “It’s a bit of momentum for the guys,” he added, saying the goal is to “keep working,” and improve the underwhelming package the British team has shown so far.
“We’re aware that to fight at all we need car performance and we need to improve. Ultimately, if you have performance, you’ll score big points.”
Cassidy went into a similar break last season first in the championship, and whilst the situation is different, we asked him if he felt confident in being able to turn things around, he said, with a grin: “We’ll see.”
Hughes sees further improvement in Stellantis package
Jake Hughes saw a double-points tally for him over the weekend, taking third in Race 2 to make it an FE first in an all-British podium.
Acknowledging the Stellantis powertrain took quadruple points finishes – through his Maserati team and DS Penske – in both Mexico and Race 1 in Jeddah, Hughes said it would have likely been a similar story had Friday’s winner Max Guenther not suffered his Lap 1 shunt.
“I think we’re further ahead than we expected,” Hughes told MW. “To have these points on the board is massively encouraging.
“It’s a big boost that we’re getting a podium already and fighting for wins and pole positions.
“For myself, I’m over the moon. It’s always challenging changing team, it’s a lot to take on to extract the most out of the package, so to be performing like this already is encouraging.”
Hughes, who was partnered by Barnard at McLaren for two weekends in Season 10, nearly came into contact with the youngster towards the end of Race 2, being forced off the track in an attempt to take second. Hughes was initially angry, but laughed it off afterwards.
“I wasn’t enamoured at the time, but I get it. I’d do something similar if I’m honest.”
Speaking on the British domination of race two, with Jake Dennis’ fourth-place making it a British 1-2-3-4, Hughes said: “I don’t know how we [the UK] keep churning it out to be honest! I don’t know what we have in the water, but we have everything we need.
“Infrastructure, a lot of the teams are based there, a lot of tracks, and the British motorsport scene, with kids starting in karting, is doing a lot of things right.”
Guenther foresees strategic differences in future Pit Boost races
Maximilian Guenther has said that the new Pit Boost regulation may provide different strategic problems for teams, depending on the different styles of track that will see the mandatory recharges take place.
Guenther became the first winner of a Pit Boost-influenced race in Jeddah, taking victory in Race 1, in which recharging made its debut.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week, the German said that whilst he does not foresee any huge differences to Pit Boost, the influence of it on certain tracks will prove to make it harder to drivers to regain their pre-stop positions.
“I think it’ll be pretty much the same wherever we go. Obviously, every race has a different dynamic and style, and track position is more important than others,” he said.
“Looking at Monaco [the next round with Pit Boost], I do believe dropping from the lead to P9 and to come back again would not be possible, just because overtaking is more difficult on a track like Monaco, those are the things you have to manoeuvre on a strategy side.”
READ MORE – Oliver Rowland: Nissan team ‘gelling’ after Jeddah Formula E success
