Karting career Born in
London, Ticktum began
karting in 2007 at the age of eight and started racing in championships the following year. He enjoyed early success, winning the Bamford Kart Club Winter Series and competing in the
Super 1 National Championship in the Honda Cadet class with Project One Racing in just his first year of competition. In the following two years Ticktum competed to drive in local and national championships, which culminated in winning the Buckmore Park Kart Club Winter Series in 2009 and placing second in the National Super One Championship the same year, having competed for Ambition Motorsport. In 2011, Ticktum completed the Grand Slam of British national cadet titles — winning the British Formula Kart Stars Championship, National ABkC Super One Championship, British Open Championship and British Grand Prix Championship, beating the likes of
Lando Norris,
Enaam Ahmed,
Jamie Caroline and
Billy Monger. A year later, Ticktum moved into the international scene, competing in the
WSK Euro Series and
WSK Master Series, finishing both championships as the highest placed rookie. In 2013, Ticktum joined Ricky Flynn Motorsport, finishing second in the European Championship, tying on points with winner
Lando Norris, and second in the National Super One Championship. The same year Ticktum won the KFJ
Andrea Margutti Trophy against the likes of
Lando Norris and
Jehan Daruvala, with previous winners being F1 stars
Giancarlo Fisichella,
Robert Kubica and
Daniil Kvyat. He led the early rounds of the Championship, taking two victories at
Donington and one at
Snetterton, but fell behind his main rivals
Lando Norris and
Colton Herta as the season progressed. At the penultimate round of the season at
Silverstone, Ticktum got involved in an incident with
Ricky Collard on the opening lap, which dropped him to the back of the field. During the ensuing safety car period he purposely overtook several cars to crash into Collard, taking both out of the race. This saw him receive a two-year ban from motorsport, of which one year was a suspended ban, as well as a disqualification from the event's results. Following the incident, Ticktum labelled himself "a fool" and apologised to his fellow drivers and the track marshals at the circuit. As a result, he finished sixth in his first season of single-seater racing and ended up second in the rookie standings, which he had originally won during the aforementioned Silverstone weekend.
Return to single-seater racing and debut at Macau In 2016, Ticktum returned to motorsport, competing in the final round of the
FIA European Formula 3 Championship in
Hockenheim with
Carlin. He also took part in the
BRDC British Formula 3 Autumn Trophy with
Double R Racing, where he won the second race and placed fourth in the standings. Following that, Ticktum made his debut in the
Macau Grand Prix with
Double R Racing, finishing eighth in Saturday's qualifying race before retiring early in the main race thanks to an accident caused by a rival.
Formula Renault Eurocup 2015 In 2015, Ticktum made a one-off appearance in the
Formula Renault Eurocup with
Koiranen GP, finishing 16th and eleventh in his two races at the
Nürburgring.
2017 during the
2017 Formula Renault Eurocup. Following Ticktum's return to competition, he went into his first full racing season in 2017, driving in the
Eurocup with
Arden International, who were making their category debut that year, together with Ghislain Cordeel and
Zane Goddard. He also competed in the MRF Challenge in pre-season during the final round. He claimed his only win of the season at the
Hungaroring, having qualified on pole during a wet-weather session, and scored two further podiums at
Silverstone and the
Nürburgring, finishing the season seventh in the drivers' standings. He also became the second-best rookie of the season, finishing thirty points behind
Max Fewtrell. At the end of the year, Ticktum was ranked 13th of
Motorsport.com's top-20 junior single-seater drivers, and also won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.
GP3 Series In September 2017, Ticktum made his debut in the
GP3 Series at
Monza with
DAMS, partnering
Tatiana Calderón and
Bruno Baptista. He claimed a podium finish in his second full race weekend at the season finale in
Abu Dhabi and finished eleventh in the standings, ahead of some full-time competitors, including all drivers who raced for
DAMS that year.
Macau Grand Prix In November 2017, Ticktum competed in a one-off race at the
Macau Grand Prix with
Team Motopark. He qualified sixth and finished eighth in the Qualifying race, behind two of his teammates. However, Ticktum managed to overtake three of his rivals into Lisboa corner on lap 14 and claimed victory after leaders
Ferdinand Habsburg and
Sérgio Sette Câmara crashed in the final corner of the 15th and final lap. He would win the race again in
2018 after dominating throughout the whole weekend, topping the qualifying session, winning the qualifying race and dominating from lights to flag in the Grand Prix. Ticktum became the third driver to win the race in consecutive years. On his victory, the Brit stated "I don’t think I ever prepared as hard for a race as this. I’ve never felt so involved or at one with a car before”.
FIA European Formula 3 Championship in the
2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship In December 2017, it was confirmed that Ticktum would contest the
FIA Formula 3 European Championship with
Team Motopark in 2018, alongside
Sebastián Fernández,
Fabio Scherer,
Jonathan Aberdein,
Marino Sato and
Jüri Vips. Ticktum started the season in positive fashion, scoring third place in the opening race at
Pau. He would better that result at the
Hungaroring, where he took a lights-to-flag win in the first race and finished second to
Enaam Ahmed in Race 3, though a component failure prevented a podium in Race 2. At the following round at the
Norisring, Ticktum stalled at the start of the second race and was hit from behind by
Ameya Vaidyanathan, which forced the Brit to go to hospital and his team to fully repair the car with just a few hours available. Thankfully for Ticktum, Motopark were able to fix his chassis and he went on to win the following race, less than a tenth ahead of teammate Vips. Ticktum later described the work his team had done as "unbelievable". The Brit endured a difficult weekend at
Circuit Zandvoort, with him being squeezed into the path of
Mick Schumacher by
Ralf Aron at the first corner of the second race and receiving a drive-through penalty for a false start in the third race.
Spa would be better for Ticktum, as he took victory in Race 2, having started from tenth on the grid. Another win at
Silverstone put Ticktum into the lead of the championship, and he remained there following the seventh event, held at
Misano. However, in the last three rounds of the championship, Schumacher scored a total of eight podiums out of nine races, with five successive wins, which put Ticktum from being 36 points ahead of the
Prema driver after the Misano round to being 52 points behind by season's end. Both Ticktum and Prema's
Ralf Aron suggested that there was something dubious about the form Schumacher and his teammate
Robert Shwartzman were showing in the final third of the season, with Ticktum describing their sudden surge in performance as "interesting". Ticktum amassed five pole positions and a total of eight podiums, becoming the highest-placed rookie in the final year of the series. His performances also made sure that
Motopark would finish second in the teams' championship. Ticktum was ranked fourth of
Motorsport.com's top 20 junior single-seater drivers in 2018.
Super Formula Championship 2018 In mid-2018, Ticktum was announced to make his debut in the
Super Formula Championship with
Team Mugen at
Sportsland Sugo. He retired from that race, but competed in the following event at
Fuji, finishing eleventh. Ticktum was classified 19th in the full standings. .
2019 Ticktum joined
Team Mugen for the
2019 season, partnering
Tomoki Nojiri, after an unsuccessful attempt to find a
Formula 2 drive. His campaign started out with an eighth place at the
Suzuka Circuit, but things would head for the worst when Ticktum stalled his car after a spin on a curb in the next round at
Autopolis. The spin damaged the chassis, and, after his request to check the car on a chassis dyno was denied by Mugen, Ticktum found himself being one second behind teammate Nojiri in qualifying for the round at
Sportsland Sugo. He finished the race in 15th position. Soon after, Ticktum was announced to be leaving the championship the following week when he was dropped from the
Red Bull programme. He was replaced by
Patricio O'Ward. Ticktum was eventually classified 20th in the standings.
Asian Winter Series Before the start of his
2019 Super Formula campaign, Ticktum participated in the
2019 F3 Asian Winter Series. After scoring a second place, he pulled out of the series before the final round.
2019 post-Super Formula After a brief hiatus from racing following his exit from the
Red Bull Junior Team, during which Ticktum briefly considered quitting the sport, He then competed in two rounds of the
Formula Regional European Championship for
Van Amersfoort Racing, scoring a pair of second places in
Barcelona, this allowed him to end ninth in the standings. In October, he partook in the FIA Formula 3 post-season test with
Carlin at the
Circuit Ricardo Tormo, following that he returned to the
2019 Macau Grand Prix with Carlin. He was involved in a pileup during the qualification race, but clawed his way back to 13th in the main event.
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2018 At the start of 2018, Ticktum first tested in
Formula 2 when
DAMS' Nicholas Latifi had fallen ill. Following the Brit's Formula 3 campaign, he drove for
Arden in the final round of the
FIA Formula 2 Championship in
Abu Dhabi, where he finished eleventh in his first race at that level. However, he was forced to retire from the sprint race after his car had developed a technical issue.
2020 In December 2019, it was announced Ticktum would contest the
2020 season with reigning team champions
DAMS alongside
Sean Gelael. Ticktum qualified ninth during the
first round in Austria and made his way up to fifth in the feature race. He would score his first podium in the sprint race, inheriting third place after an engine issue for
Marcus Armstrong. An eighth place came in the feature race of the
second Austria round, scoring reverse pole. He would lose the lead to
Christian Lundgaard during the sprint, but would come away with a second place. He would be deprived of a podium opportunity in
Budapest after a mechanical issue during the sprint race, but scored points in the feature race. Ticktum qualified 12th and finished eighth in the feature race which gave him reverse pole again. He bounced back in the sprint race where he earned his first victory in Formula 2, having held off a charging Lundgaard in the final laps. In the
second Silverstone round, Ticktum qualified an impressive fourth, but dropped to 15th at the feature race end. He managed to climb to seventh in the sprint. After topping practice in
Barcelona, he went on to qualify eighth. He finished both races in tenth, but scored two points in the sprint race thanks to a fastest lap. Ticktum did not take part in
Belgium practice due to an inconclusive
COVID-19 test, but was cleared for qualifying. After securing sixth place in the feature race, he would collide with fellow
Williams Academy member
Roy Nissany battling for the lead, sending the Israeli into the barriers. In
Monza, he qualified tenth and progressed to seventh in the feature race. In the sprint race, he would snatch the lead from
Louis Delétraz and lead a lights-to-flag for victory. However, his win was stripped from him due to lack of fuel after crossing the line leading to him falling out of the top ten in the standings. He secured second in qualifying at
Mugello, but incidents deprived him of any points. In
Russia, he had a solid weekend, taking the final points positions in both races. In
Bahrain, he qualified third, and his only points came in the feature race with ninth. During the
second Bahrain round and finale, Ticktum claimed reverse pole in the feature race by finishing eighth. He would finish behind the
Carlins clinching a third place. Ticktum finished his season eleventh in the championship, placing as the fourth-highest rookie with 96.5 points, one victory and three other podiums. He would later make an appearance at the post-season test in
Bahrain for
Carlin alongside his F2 rival
Jehan Daruvala.
2021 during the
2021 Silverstone Formula 2 round. In
2021, Ticktum switched to
Carlin alongside
Daruvala. In the first round at the
Bahrain International Circuit, Ticktum qualified fourth for Sunday's feature race. In sprint race 1 he collided with
Richard Verschoor and received a five-second penalty. Despite this, he fought back to finish in eighth place. For the next race, he started from third but was forced to retire after being spun around at the first corner by
Robert Shwartzman. In the feature race, Ticktum fell back at the start, but through the use of an alternative strategy, he got back to the lead pack and fought for the race win. When he overtook
Oscar Piastri, the Australian collided with him and spun out; Ticktum, however, managed to keep going. He overtook
Richard Verschoor on the penultimate lap and finished the race in second, only half a second behind
Guanyu Zhou. At the next round Ticktum qualified fourth and finished sixth in the first sprint race in
Monaco, and after jumping
Théo Pourchaire at the start and overtaking
Oscar Piastri into the nouvelle chicane in sprint race two, he ended up second, just behind
Liam Lawson. After the race Lawson was disqualified for using an illegal throttle map on the formation lap, which promoted Ticktum to take his first win of the season. In the feature race he battled his rival Piastri for a podium spot, but Ticktum was forced to retire when he got stuck at La Rascasse, after an attempted overtake on the Australian. Following the race Ticktum took the blame for the incident and apologised to his team. Ticktum was able to turn around his favours immediately, finishing second in the first
Baku sprint race, having overtaken four drivers in the first half of the race. In the second sprint race of the weekend, Ticktum fell back to the back of the pack after being clipped by Zhou, but charged through the field after a
safety car period to take sixth place. The feature race held similar fortunes: after a first-lap collision with Pourchaire and
Marcus Armstrong, which led to Ticktum having to pit for repairs, he fought back, moving up to eighth and setting the fastest lap of the race. At the next event, his home race at
Silverstone, Ticktum qualified fourth having topped practice. Ticktum finished on the podium in both the second sprint and the feature race, scoring more points that weekend than any other driver bar championship leader
Oscar Piastri, and was also the only driver to score two podiums that weekend. After the summer break, Ticktum qualified in eighth, and was taken out in a collision with
Felipe Drugovich in the first race in
Monza. and despite eleven overtakes in the second sprint he was unable to get into the points-paying positions. Ticktum then started the feature race from eighth on the grid, being the first driver to line up with harder tyres at the start. After gaining the lead through a safety car period in the middle of the race, a well-timed safety car played into Ticktum's strategy, as he was able to come out of the pits in eleventh on fresher and softer rubber than his competitors with a few laps to go. Having shown supreme car control after being hit from behind at the restart, the Brit charged through the field, and finished third after another safety car on the penultimate lap all but destroyed his chances for a victory. Ticktum scored his second win of the season in mixed conditions at the following round in
Sochi, having led the sprint race from start to finish. Despite his victory, Ticktum said in a post-race interview that the win "[didn't] mean much" due to him "not going to be in Formula 1", which had always been his career goal. He finished fifth in the feature race that weekend, having started tenth. In the penultimate qualifying session of the year in
Jeddah, Ticktum's car received a slow puncture with just a few minutes of the session left, which didn't allow him to improve his laptime and led to him qualifying in 13th place. During the first sprint race the Briton moved through the pack to finish seventh, and he started and finished race 2 in fourth. Ticktum finished 10th in the feature race on Sunday, thus ending his podium streak of six consecutive rounds of getting at least one podium. Ticktum had an uneventful weekend in the final round at the
Yas Marina Circuit, but finished in the top six in all three races. Ticktum ended up fourth in the drivers' standings with two wins and seven podiums in total and a 159.5 points, 23.5 points behind third-placed Zhou.
Return to the Macau Grand Prix (2023) Ticktum returned with
Rodin Carlin to participate in the
2023 Macau Grand Prix. == Formula One ==