The Kiro team has reacted swiftly to try to ringfence Formula E's newest race winner Dan Ticktum after significant interest from its powertrain supplier Porsche became known earlier this month.
The Race can reveal that Kiro activated an option on Ticktum's services in the first week of July, meaning that Ticktum is now contractually locked into a fifth season with the American-entered, UK-based team.
Porsche's factory team has started to express interest in Ticktum in recent weeks after he went on a run of results in Tokyo (fifth and third), Shanghai (fourth and 16th) and Jakarta (victory) in which he outscored factory drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix da Costa.
Da Costa is currently in his own dilemma with Porsche as the manufacturer is believed to have a selection preference on his employment for next season. It is understood that this has not yet been formally triggered, meaning that scope could exist for da Costa, who is known to be unhappy at Porsche, to exit this summer.
That has led to Porsche looking at possible alternatives for the seat alongside reigning champion Wehrlein, who is believed to be under a lengthy contract.
The Race reported last month that Porsche had talked seriously to Oliver Rowland about a deal but the current points leader has elected to stay put at Nissan under a new multi-season agreement.
Why the matter isn't closed
The activation of Ticktum's option is not necessarily case closed for the new-look Kiro team, which has gone from zero to hero in less than a year.
The team is desperate to keep hold of Ticktum; this has been evident in its external rhetoric and in its actions, such as the recently exercised option. But should Porsche decide to really try to excavate Ticktum from his deal, it has the power and the capacity to do so.
Contractually and morally it may have Ticktum in its car for next season. Yet, international motorsport and those two things are quite often not the end of the story.
Getting Ticktum now will come at a cost but for a major manufacturer that isn't much of a concern. Strategic thinking will be vital too, and should da Costa not be on the menu, and should Porsche lack faith in Nico Mueller enough not to promote him, then a plan to get Ticktum might ramp up.
Porsche supplies Kiro - not for any philanthropic reason, but as part of a tactical play that improves its chances of taking multiple manufacturers' crowns and conducting beneficial results in races. It's quite simple: Porsche's relationship with Andretti proved to be less malleable than it had originally hoped and it wanted a third option to help it secure points and prizes.
The relationship between Porsche and Kiro will continue into the Gen4 period in 2026-27. And perhaps part of that will be to capture Ticktum, a prized asset now for Kiro.
It is not difficult to imagine a scenario whereby Porsche applies pressure on Kiro to release Ticktum, offering it Mueller as a replacement. Mueller has generally had a difficult campaign with Andretti and is now not believed to be a shoe-in to replace da Costa, which he clearly was in the off-season.
That scenario will take plenty of diplomacy and negotiations and, allied to the da Costa/Porsche intricacies of a contract option, could take some time to resolve.
All the while Mueller, Jaguar, Jake Hughes, Stoffel Vandoorne, to an extent Andretti and possibly several others are hemmed in and inert, unable to do a deal and get their Formula E futures secured.
On the flipside, those who took power into their own hands such as Nick Cassidy and Taylor Barnard are looking pretty chilled right now.
from The Race https://ift.tt/eksuT34
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