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Dan Ticktum slated Autosport for deleting a comment he posted on social media and hit out at his rivals and critics as he did so.
The Formula E driver, who became infamous after earning a one-year ban from racing earlier in his career, claimed his rivals “want to lick Autosport’s arse” in order to receive positive coverage. He accused the publication of misrepresenting remarks he made and lashed out at “losers” who made references to his notorious ban for deliberately crashing into a rival during a Safety Car period in a 2015 race.
Ticktum took aim at Autosport after claiming they removed a comment he posted criticising an article this week. “I don’t actually think those quotes were direct quotes, they were certainly chopped up and sort of fitting a narrative that they wanted,” said Ticktum. “And they were obviously massively out of context.”
He complained that Autosport did not delete other profane responses from those critical of him. “Those people jump in the comments on the hate train so I thought, right, let’s just explain what happened here and sort of hit back at people a little bit, the losers, et cetera, of which there are many,” he said.
“The post is about me, I retaliate – well, not retaliate, but say my point – and they delete my comment. But you’ve got 50 other people calling me a ‘cunt’ in the comments and that’s fine. But I try and put my story across and clarify things that’s not fine.
“I’ve obviously known Autosport for years, I have to say I’ve worked with fantastic people there, so it’s not everyone as a whole. But whoever made that decision, whether it was a group of you or just one person, firstly fuck you, point number one, and two it’s just very sad really that platform has acted that way.”
Ticktum said his rival drivers are too afraid to criticise the publication. “I’m one of the only people that will give you the truth,” he claimed. “Most people want to lick Autosport’s arse because they want good media from them or whatever, I’ll just say as it is, thank you very much.”
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He reposted his original, deleted comment which read: “So many [people] still stuck in the past here is mad. I was 15 when I got banned. I fucked up, I regret it. It was wrong. It’s 11 years ago, it’s almost half my life ago.
“Yeah, I don’t phrase things perfectly sometimes. The quote [has been taken] slightly out of context, as they all are, designed to make all of you haters comment. It’s worked.
“The main issue currently is the lack of penalties given and I’m the only one that has the balls to challenge it publicly. I’m trying to make the sport better for viewers and competitors.
“Most of you don’t even watch FE or race you just sit in your box room waiting for another slightly controversial Dan Ticktum moment so you can press the ‘remember when Dan Ticktum crashed into someone on purpose’ saved button on [your] 2010 HP laptop.
“The drivers on that grid are extremely talented, the quote was specifically talking about the races, and what I mean is there is too much energy-saving therefore too much strategy in turn making it too much about luck and not talent. Just to clear that up.
“I keep myself out of trouble for extended periods of time and do a lot of good things for other people but you all stay silent when that happens. Anyway far too much energy expended on losers again. Just [going to] go drive my Ford GT, enjoy [your] Iceland chicken [Kyivs] your mum just cooked for you.”
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Ticktum was banned for overtaking 10 cars during a Safety Car period and deliberately crashing into Ricky Collard during an MSA Formula race at Silverstone in 2015. The ban prevented Ticktum from racing in most of the following year and cost him a chance to test an F1 car for Red Bull, though he later joined their junior team. After losing his place on that programme he briefly joined Williams as a junior driver but was dropped in mid-2021.
His radio comments have drawn attention on several occasions, notably when he described Yuki Tsunoda as “a stupid little bloke” and threatened to crash into Louis Deletraz during a Formula 2 race in 2020. He is now in his sixth season in Formula E.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has made online abuse a focal point for the governing body in recent years through the United Against Online Abuse initiative.
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