Dan Ticktum opened up on the “bittersweet” rollercoaster that was his Formula E Monaco E-Prix double-header.
The Briton was the definition of perfection over one lap, securing pole position for both races at the Circuit de Monaco.
Ticktum was untouchable in qualifying for both races, with the second pole secured by more than six tenths of a second — the biggest pole margin of the season in a final duel.
Unfortunately, qualifying was where the positives from Monaco ended for Ticktum, who endured two extremely difficult races.
The first ended with him receiving a 33-second time penalty after being deemed at fault for causing a collision with António Félix da Costa, before he dropped backwards in the second race.
Asked for his overall reflection on Monaco, Dan Ticktum told ApexF1News: “Yeah, bittersweet. I think the qualifying performances are something that I’ll remember in my career forever.
“I don’t think there have been many other times where I’ve driven much better than that. I think pole in Macau in 2018, the Tokyo lap until I put it in the wall, and some other qualifying performances I can’t remember off the top of my head.
“But yeah, the ones here were very special. The car wasn’t the quickest on Saturday. I felt like I hit the wall a couple of times in qualifying — I was really, really pushing. For Sunday, we made a few changes, and it was just in that fantastic sweet spot.
“Being able to drive around Monaco in a car that you trust, right up against the walls, is a fantastic feeling. So, yeah, thanks to the team for giving me the car to do that. Like I say, we’ll cherish that for a long time.”
Cupra Kiro’s ‘hot tyres’ problem
A key issue for Dan Ticktum and Cupra Kiro during both Monaco races was tyre overheating, which impacted the performance of his car.
Race pace is something Ticktum wants the team to investigate ahead of Sanya, the next round, which takes place towards the end of June.
Assessing both races in particular, Ticktum explained: “I feel like, over both races, the strategy hasn’t been catastrophic, but it has been pretty poor.
“Certainly on Saturday, I feel like the plan was obviously to bump the targets up early by slowing down the race, and then we should have boxed early and kept the lead.
“Even if we were a bit down on energy, the targets were high enough that it would’ve been hard for them to overtake, so yeah, I think we got that a bit wrong.
“On Sunday, I think we were a bit late on Attack Modes as well, but the car is really poor when the tyres get hot, so that’s something we need to look at.”
