The Rodin Carlin driver, making his return to F3 at Macau this weekend in a bid to claim an historic third win, was shunted into the wall at Lisboa on lap two of the qualification race on Saturday after his Trident rival made an optimistic dive down the inside.
The incident pitched both into the tyre barrier, and means that Ticktum will start on the back row of the grid for the main grand prix on Sunday.
Speaking after the race at the lost opportunity, having felt he could make progress from his original 13th spot on the grid, Ticktum believed that Ugochukwu’s error was needless – and something that is typically expected from drivers racing in more junior categories.
“He just outbraked himself and put me in the wall,” said Ticktum. “It’s a shame. A win was a long shot, but I was already up to 10th or 11th, so with a couple more overtakes and a good start tomorrow I reckon I could have been top five easily.
“I’ve just come back from the stewards and watched the on-board, and he came from a long old way back.
“He was trying to overtake my team-mate [Zane Maloney], he wasn’t trying to overtake me, but if I wasn’t there, he would have just ended up in the wall anyway. He misjudged it.
“It’s a mistake that happens, but there are some relatively inexperienced drivers, especially here at Macau, and mistakes like that in my opinion shouldn’t happen at this level.
“F4, I get it, when you are just 15 or 16 years old. Obviously, some drivers are inexperienced, but I just don’t think that kind of mistake should happen.”
Ticktum’s starting position for the grand prix means that any hopes of grabbing the victory are gone, but the Briton insists that this will not be his last appearance in the F3 classic.
Asked about his mindset for the race, he said: “I’ll just go and enjoy it. It’s exactly the same as what happened in 2019, unfortunately. My team-mate [Logan Sargeant] caused that incident then, and I had to start last for the final. It’s not to be this year.
“But I have every intention of coming back, I don’t care how old I get, I just like the race and doing it in an F3 car is more exciting than a GT car.
“I’d like to come back and win it again, or win it two more times, who knows? But we need a bit more pace. The team knows that, they have had a difficult year. But let’s see for next year.”
Armstrong: "It sucks"
Ticktum was not the only potential front-runner to end the qualification race ruing an incident.
IndyCar driver Marcus Armstrong, who had started fifth, saw his hopes dashed after suffering a damaged front wing in a clash with Isack Hadjar on the opening lap. He had to pit for repairs and eventually finished 22nd.
“We came out of Turn 3, and I was side-by-side with Hadjar,” explained the New Zealander. “To be fair to him, he had the run on the outside and it was his corner for sure.
“I would have backed out and let him have it, but he came over and squeezed me, and that was why we had a very clumsy crash. It was kind of unnecessary. It was clearly his corner. I don’t know what else to say, it sucks.”
