Is Dan Ticktum the messiah or is he just a very naughty boy?
Ticktum just won't care either way, and frankly it feels pretty good for him and those around him that he doesn't. His honesty and authenticity can amuse and humble in equal measure - but is it something just to accept, or maybe even to embrace?
Actually, many big hitters in the Formula E paddock are starting to see this blazing mercurial light too, now. Because at last, finally, they are observing what they thought he was probably always capable of: Ticktum in a fast car is undeniable in the outcome of delivering results.
But maybe let's not get too excited. He's only just got his first podium after three and a half seasons of trying in Formula E. While that's hardly his fault, the feeling at the moment is that the team he has raced for since the start of the 2022 season is finally crystallising into a serious proposition that can match its promise with his, and then deliver results.
Ticktum has had doubts cast upon him, which is perhaps natural in such a competitive environment as Formula E. The Race has already covered just how impressive 80% of his qualifying final lap against Oliver Rowland was in Tokyo last Sunday.
A watching James Rossiter on commentary duty was seriously impressed and one team principal even described it to The Race privately as "the best almost-pole lap" they'd "ever seen in motorsport". It deserves fast-tracking to legendary status in the Formula E bubble, if not beyond. It was that good.
But what does it all mean for Ticktum, his Cupra Kiro team, and the wider paddock, especially as far as his future is concerned?
Impressing big bosses
Sunday in Tokyo felt like the beginning of something big for Ticktum, and it wasn't just him underlining how fast he could be. There was more to it than that.
There were no radio histrionics from him this time, something which has not only presented Ticktum as a kind of cartoon character but has also made him an obvious target for social media pile-ons.
A certain clarity of thought was displayed in Tokyo that cut through the previous hysteria. Ticktum wasn't fighting a demon this time because the angel had booted that interloper off his shoulder.
In fact, Ticktum was openly riding as a precision shotgun with none other than the reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein for most of the race. A pre-race discussion between Porsche and Kiro, which runs the exact Gen3 design that took Wehrlein to last year's title, led to a good slice of key orchestrations in Sunday's race, including Ticktum letting Wehrlein through into the lead at the midway stage.
All this was very calmly done and at one stage Ticktum even piped up: "I'm just going to cover Pascal. I'm not going to overtake him. When he lifts I'll go side by side and I'll let him go again."
"Serenity is the quiet confidence that comes from within," so said someone serene once. Ticktum was in that groove and his team was loving it.
For Porsche's Florian Modlinger, Ticktum actually came on his radar rapidly in Formula E and, especially over the tough seasons, he saw a racer that against considerable self-inflicted odds might one day represent a major manufacturer.
"I always had an eye on him because he naturally is quick, extremely quick," Modlinger told The Race. "When you see the sector one and sector two he did [in the qualifying final] I was impressed. Each apex, and how smooth the steering wheel was."
But with the clinical angel, there comes that on-edge devil again. This time the devil won.
"You see also though how close the other side is," added Modlinger.
"A little bit of overdoing and 'bam', the wall, then all is gone. Yes, the advantage was already impressive and if he would have also made sector three, it would have been a really impressive laptime. But this last step, I think we need to see."
The high likelihood is that Ticktum will stay for a fifth season at Kiro next year. He is, just like the new Forest Road Company ownership and the Porsche deal, a key asset. But the Gen4 era, with more power and grip, will be right up Ticktum’s street. So could we see him, against ludicrous odds, one day rocking up at Porsche?
It's hard to envisage right now - though no doubt a recent documentary, in which this author openly scoffed at the idea, will be wheeled out and humble pie will be taken in great amounts if it does happen.
"I feel like, after that race, I've got a lot of people to support me," remarked Ticktum on Sunday.
"People from all categories of putting the race event on. Some media, marshals, safety department, FIA, drivers. There's a lot of people coming up to me that are happy for me, which is a very nice feeling. Even on the in-lap, I had like five or six drivers [waving].
"It feels nice, like, 'OK, not everyone hates me'."
The next step
"I don't care what the haters say because they just don't know me," Ticktum confided to The Race last Sunday.
So, Ticktum gives the proverbial zero Fs about what you might think of him, and he wants you to know it. Fair enough. Yet, when it comes to his career trajectory, might it still count against him?
"If someone is so ignorant and stupid to base an opinion on someone without really knowing them, then I just don't care what they think," he added.
"It used to affect me when I was younger, 100%. I wasn't mature enough to deal with that. It was all new. I am one of the fastest drivers in the world. I proved that in Monaco [in qualifying], I proved it here because I’ve got a decent car and I'm there, so it's satisfying."
He's never lacked confidence, but some openly bristle against it. There is a boxer's mentality in Ticktum, no doubt. It all sounds so different to racing ears - too singular for many - but why does it offend so much? Who's he hurting?
Probably only himself if he doesn't deliver. Now though he is delivering, because he is able to via the car underneath him and the team beside him.
"My mentality overall to the sport in general has changed a little bit this year," he said. "Since Jakarta [in 2023 when he said to his team in a monumental rant 'tell my taxi to be ready in 15 minutes'] I didn't really say anything at all on the radio up until this season. The whole of last season I just kept my head down completely. No one remembers that.
"Everyone was saying, 'Oh, you're a bit boring this season' and it didn't get me any rewards. I didn't get any opportunities from other teams, even though I was still proving I was faster in that car. But now I'm just going to be me, to be honest.
"If I get other opportunities and certain teams want me to behave a slightly different way, that's absolutely fine. But at the moment, this team understand me very well. I’m very happy here. We'll see. I have to adapt to wherever I am."
Can Ticktum be not moulded, as such, but at least refined a bit? Does he need to be?
"Maybe you cannot change the global characteristics of someone," says Modlinger.
"But you can tackle your weaknesses on your own and you can get help and you can improve day by day. We are human beings, and we can learn every day."
Saying that such an approach will be forthcoming from Ticktum feels like cannon fodder for the "haters".
Because he has had his chances. But that powerful decision influencers such as Modlinger are even talking about Ticktum openly is a good sign for this talent.
It could be "a good problem to have" according to Kiro team owner Jeremy Tarica, an individual who is taking to the Formula E paddock like a duck to water after just half a season in it.
"When he gets so confident we have to think about how we keep Dan, quite frankly," Tarica tells The Race.
"But I think what is amazing with Dan, Kiro, this partnership, and him being in this seat is he will become a superstar. We could really facilitate that in so many ways with all the creative ideas we have for the sport and the disruptive DNA that we have. We're a match made in heaven.
"The runaway risk of Dan, I'll take that all day long because I think we can keep him happy. I think, ultimately, he's got amazing talent that extends off the track too, that we can really foster, and I don't know if other teams can do that.
"I think his internal narrative has always probably worked in a way. But this, today, with our team and everyone around him, he knew he was going to get a podium and he did."
Dan Ticktum has landed on a podium in Formula E. The naughty boy is growing up.
