Ticktum lost a day of running at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in December owing to his Formula 2 obligations in Jeddah, with Adam Carroll taking over his car for the final day.
Although Ticktum explained that the Formula E machinery was not as different as he had perhaps expected leading into the test, he feels that he still needs time to acclimatise to its quirks – and wants to feel as though he can “rag the car” by the end of the season-opening double-header.
“I feel like I’m not fully comfortable in the car – if I said I was, I’d been lying,” said Ticktum.
“But I mean, I got to grips with it fairly quickly in Valencia; it wasn’t as sort of foreign as I was expected from what I’m used to. It still felt like a single-seater.
“The braking was obviously different, and strategies, the races and the lifting and coasting part on all that stuff is obviously very new to me.
“But at the end of this weekend, I want to sort of come out of that feeling like, I can sort of rag the car, basically; that I’m comfortable in it. So at the moment we’ll see, but I wouldn’t say I’m quite there yet.”
“It’s a tall order, obviously with very, very minimal testing. But I can only do what I can do.”
Dan Ticktum, NIO 333,
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Fellow rookie Antonio Giovinazzi explained that the biggest change from making the move from Formula 1 to FE was in the braking, saying that the added weight, lack of grip and lack of downforce compared to an F1 car forced him to reassess his braking distances.
Ticktum agreed, explaining that the treaded tyres further extended the braking distances – but added that he felt it was more exciting for the viewer that way.
“I’ve done a couple of days in a modern Formula 1 car,” Ticktum explained.
“It’s unbelievable how they stop, and Formula 2 is pretty impressive as well. So braking is different.
“Obviously, it’s slightly heavier, not on slicks. So it’s just a few factors, obviously, that give you less grip basically.
“But in some ways that’s a good thing. It makes it more exciting to watch because the cars are moving about a bit more, et cetera.”
