António Félix da Costa is targeting to bounce back this week in the Diriyah double-header, after a disappointing season-opener in Mexico City.
Da Costa headed into the start of Season 10 as many people’s dark horse for a victory in the Mexican capital, following a very strong performance in pre-season testing. However, it was a shocking start to the campaign for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team driver, as he qualified in P16 and then retired from the race.
He was forced into retirement following damaged caused by his own error, after he attempted an extremely late move on Nico Müller in the opening laps. Whilst Da Costa watched the majority of the race from the garage, his teammate, Pascal Wehrlein, cruised to victory.
With a seven-week break commencing after the two races in Diriyah, it’s important that Da Costa performs well so that he can head into the unfortunate break high on confidence and with momentum. Given that Wehrlein won both races in the Middle East last season, the expectation is that Porsche will be strong on the outskirts of the Saudi Arabian capital city.
It’s important that Da Costa has a clean couple of races in Diriyah so that he can really get his Season 10 campaign underway, especially if he has title aspirations. Qualifying in the top 10 is going to be crucial for Da Costa, especially on Friday, as he has a three-place grid penalty for the opening race in Diriyah following his collision with Müller in Mexico.
He admits his season has started well and that he’s “allowed to be annoyed” by his opening race error; however, he’s ready to bounce back at the season’s only night races.
“After my difficult start to the season, I’m looking forward to Diriyah,” Da Costa said. “It’s a cool event for more reasons than being the only night race of the season. If things don’t go so smoothly, like for me in Mexico, you can’t afford to let it get you down.
“You have to be self-critical, you’re allowed to be annoyed by your mistakes for a while, but then you have to move on. It’s the bad days that teach you the most. In any case, I’m taking a lot of positives from Mexico to Diriyah.”
