'Most controversial man in motorsport' shows true colours in new documentary

Dan Ticktum is offering a wry smile. He has just been asked how many times he thinks he swore in Formula E’s new Amazon Prime documentary, Driver.

“Not that many… maybe like early twenties or something,” he says. It says quite a lot about Ticktum’s brash approach to both life and career that he thinks that 20 is quite a conservative amount.

The answer, in fact, is only 13. It’s still quite hefty when you consider his air time, but it’s enough to get a round of applause from his mate, who is stood across the other side of his team’s garage ahead of the Monaco E-Prix last week.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

“That’s good, isn’t it,” he says with a smile. “They cut probably 90% of what they filmed. If it was all of that, then there was a lot where I was on one. It would have been well into the hundreds!”

Ticktum has never been one to mince his words and it is, in part, why he has garnered a reputation that regularly leaves him considered the most controversial man in motorsport.

Let’s get the details out of the way: he was banned for two years in his formative years after deliberately crashing into a rival during safety car conditions. He had to plead with authorities not to ban him for life. Racing is his life, and he flirted with driving his career off a proverbial cliff.

After his return, he was offered a couple of olive branches by the F1 community. Firstly, with ’s academy, but he would eventually be dropped, then with Williams, where he would seal his own fate by making a series of controversial comments about one of their drivers at the time, Nicholas Latifi.

That was as many chances as Ticktum would get and his dreams of making F1 were over, so in stepped Formula E. He was signed by the struggling NIO333 team for the 2021/22 season and has remained with them since, in their constantly-changing identity. Now under the Kiro branding - a team with the backing of celebrities such as Idriss Elba - they seem to be getting somewhere.

That’s not without causing a scene, of course, as documented in Driver. Ticktum’s radio messages during races are still as sweary as his reputation would have you expect, but there’s something endearing about his outspoken approach to life.

He credits Jeff Dodds, Formula E’s eccentric CEO of 18 months and a former right-hand man of Richard Branson at Virgin, for his role in helping Formula E drivers embrace their personalities.

“Especially since Jeff has joined, the whole of the championship has been conducive to allowing drivers to be themselves,” Ticktum says. “He seems to be quite supportive of it, as do my team, so I think it has been helpful. I’ve been allowed to be in scenarios where I can open up a bit more, so it has been good.

“I think the tide is turning a little bit. I think people are starting to see a bit more of the real me. I’m still going to be polarising, but I think people have at least started to see now that I am not a horrible person.”

Ticktum describes his career as a "hate train of people who don't know me" during the Prime documentary, but his vulnerability, as well as his unwavering love of his family, who also feature, is clear for all to see.

At one point, his mum tears up while talking about his reputation. "I think it was great that that was put in, actually,” Ticktum says. “I think a lot of people forget how much stress and strain is put on a family.

"Mum's obviously seen that firsthand, and she gets upset when she sees all the rubbish I get.”

Ticktum’s raw talent is unquestionable, but he knows he will struggle to change some people’s perception of him. "Obviously, I have a certain history, so it's very easy for people who are editing things to sort of push a narrative,” he says.

"The problem is I still give them some ammo to push that narrative! That's fine, I'm cool with that. I go to sleep well at night now.”

Watch Formula E: Driver on Amazon Prime Video now.