The NIO driver was on course for a very positive result today in Rome after the huge crash which stopped the race with less than ten laps in, but a racing incident after the restart caused him to break his front wing, ending the race out of the top ten.
Ticktum wasn’t pleased with the first experience of driving the new Gen 3 cars in Rome, as he found the track layout to be severely unsafe due to its layout, which features a blind corner ahead of a particularly bumpy section at Turn 5 and 6, the spot where the major incident happened:
“Firstly, I’m just happy that everyone is alright, that’s two years in a row where nearly half the grid hasn’t finished the race,” he told Pit Debrief after the end of the race.
“It was too dangerous in a Gen 2 car this track, and I don’t know why we are back here with less grip and more power. I don’t know who makes these decisions, but it’s very obvious if you ask anyone with a brain that this is not a safe track to come back to.”
The British driver calls for track layout changes, as with the new generation of cars the pre-existing worrisome situation has only worsened:
“They really need to change the ground of the road, because there is only one line, and they need to somehow change the layout at Turn 5 and 6. You can’t have a blind corner with only one line racing at 150 mph. Glad no one was hurt today, but in another eventuality someone could be, so, firstly, that’s ridiculous.
“Two, I’m fed up with how racing is now, to be honest, this season has been particularly bad. Gen 2 was not as bad. we’re always saving and backing up and obviously I know that’s an element of Formula E In the right amounts it works quite nicely but now just the racing is so sporadic, so unpredictable.”
Photo credits NIO 333 Formula E team
Ticktum admitted he has been getting “very fed up” with how racing has become: “People are backing up, almost stopping one lap, the next lap fast, a corner could be really different.
“I can’t even say exactly what I want to say, because it would be an headline, and I might never have a chance in Formula E ever again, but let’s say I’m getting very fed up with this racing.”
Asked about the main cause of risk between Turn 5 and 6, Ticktum expanded on the way the need for energy saving has impacted racing in the series, as well as the structure of the new Gen 3 cars:
“The bump is not the main issue. The bump in it is okay, I’m talking more about the racing now, how much people are saving, everyone doing different strategies. It might look good on the TV but…
“I lost my wing when I was in a lucky position because a lot of people had crashed. You know, the wing doesn’t even do a thing anyways in terms of gaining downforce, all it does is causing issues because it breaks just by breathing on it.
“The bodywork we had in Gen 2 cars was much better for racing on these sorts of circuits, more forgiving, and it would allow us to race a lot, a lot better, so that’s another point. I’m just fed up,” he concluded.
