António Félix da Costa’s switch to the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team for Season 9 was one of great excitement ahead of the ignition of the Gen3 era, although he now admits that it left him with “double the work” compared to some other drivers.
Da Costa’s 2023 campaign was a mixed affair, with his standout performance undoubtedly being his stunning victory at the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix. His maiden Porsche win came courtesy of one of the best overtakes of the year, as he dived past Jean-Éric Vergne at high-speed on the final lap.
His win in the fifth round of Season 9 came on the back of four inconsistent results, as he finished seventh in Mexico City, 18th and P11 in Diriyah and third in Hyderabad. It was a similar story after Cape Town, as he had a few strong results in São Paulo and Berlin, before disappointing in Monaco and Jakarta.
That summed up Da Costa’s first season with Porsche, as he struggled to string good results together. This is ultimately what stopped him from challenging for the title, because when his pace was good, he was capable of podiums.
Porsche clearly believe in the Season 6 Champion, who often qualified too far down the order to really challenge for big points on a regular basis, regardless of his race pace. The German manufacturer has made him drop his World Endurance Championship seat for 2024 in order to fully focus on Formula E.
Looking back on his first season with Porsche, Da Costa admits that he and the Stuttgart-based side “paid a small price” last season, as the driver had to understand both a new car and how to work best with the German manufacturer following his move from DS Techeetah.
“I think last year was obviously a learning curve for everyone. When you introduce a completely new car, new tyre for everyone, that’s a lot of work,” Da Costa told FormulaNerds last October.
“On top of that, I had a whole complete new team to learn and meet, and understand how the work ethic works and how to get things done. So it was almost double the work than some of the other drivers, and we paid a small price for that.”
What made Da Costa’s struggles standout at times was how well Pascal Wehrlein started 2023, by claiming two wins in the opening three races. Whilst finishing behind Wehrlein could very easily be viewed as a negative by Da Costa, he actually believes his teammate performing so well “sped up my process” to get nearer the front.
The 32-year-old ended Season 9 down in ninth in the Drivers’ Championship, considerably lower than he would’ve liked. On the plus side, Da Costa looked very good in testing last October ahead of Season 10, where he set the second-fastest time.
Knowing the car and the entire team now is making life much easier for Da Costa, who openly accepts that last season “wasn’t easy”.
“Obviously, we didn’t start being competitive right off the bat. It wasn’t easy,” Da Costa admitted. “But on the other hand, it was good to have Pascal [Wehrlein] on the other side of the garage delivering, winning races. It kind of sped up my process to get there.
“Now, 12 months later, everything is just happening in a much more natural way, the way that I like to operate and work. I know everyone. I know the car, I know the systems, I know all the software behind it, so it’s a lot easier.”
Given how tough 2023 was at times for Da Costa, packing his bags and moving elsewhere would’ve been a very easy solution; however, the driver is very happy with how things are going with Porsche. Da Costa isn’t a fan of change and has no intentions on departing the German side anytime soon, who he has created “really strong bonds” with.
“I hate to change, I don’t normally change [teams],” he added. “I like to create, you know, put some ground work down where I am. I don’t plan to go anywhere.
“Everything is just happening in a way, it is incredible,” Da Costa continued. “They [Porsche] welcomed me well last year, and after going through some bad moments and coming back to victories and stuff, you create really strong bonds.”
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