Antonio Felix da Costa was philosophical on the contentious aftermath of his Formula E victory in Madrid, as Jaguar teammate Mitch Evans fumed at being denied the chance to win.
Da Costa, who started fourth, played another strategic masterclass for the second race running, to secure back-to-back victories in the city’s maiden E-Prix at the prestigious Jarama circuit.
Evans, who started 16th, had one of the day’s best drives, coming from 16th to challenge for victory, in what was the first single-header E-Prix to feature Pit Boost.
With the final laps approaching, da Costa began to be hounded by his friend and teammate, with Dan Ticktum and Pascal Wehrlein also hot on the Jaguars’ heels.
But the team withheld the Kiwi’s chances to fight da Costa for the win, leaving him to blast the British marque over the radio, calling the strategy a “dog s**t decision”.
Whilst understandably irked by not being able to seriously go for glory, Evans did not take the matter personally with da Costa, and ultimately helped secure a 1-2 for the team, in front of a sell-out crowd.
After the race, da Costa was understanding of his teammate’s mood, but stated that his strategy allowed him to control proceedings from the front.
“Yeah, I mean, I need to review it,” he told Motorsport Week. “I know Mitch is frustrated because he had a race where he came from the back and then he was able to put himself in a position to go for the win. But I need to review it.
“From my end, I actually think I had enough energy to keep anyone behind. That’s why I was leading when I was. That was all planned. So it didn’t really matter how much energy anyone had.
“Mitch believes he could have won the race, and he’s a little bit frustrated from that. But we’ll go back, analyse it.”
Da Costa realises ‘I might gave to give up’ win next time
Evans was infamously furious that he lost out on the Season 10 championship at the final race in London, due to a strategic blunder by the team, which ultimately saw him and then-teammate Nick Cassidy also miss out on the title, with Wehrlein sneaking in and taking it from them.
Da Costa alluded to this, and acknowledged that if the team is in a similar position in a future race, it will be he who has to make way.
“You know, it’s nothing against me…There’s a little bit of history here that I’m not a part of from all of these years here. So that’s one for him and the team to resolve.
“But one thing that we all need to understand is that there’s a lot of people that put a lot of hard work for us to get these cars and we can’t risk it at the end. So today I was on the upper hand when we locked it and we took the cars home in this way.
“Maybe next race I’m the one to have to give it up.”
For da Costa himself, it is a second win in a row, becoming the first driver this season to win more than one race, putting him second in the championship, with Wehrlein still narrowly ahead, with Evans third.
But the Portuguese was surprised at how fraught the battle for victory became, and noted that “keeping calm” was really the only way to secure it for himself.
“Honestly, after the pit stop, I thought, man, it’s going to be a chill one to the end! And then it wasn’t! Far from it,” he said.
“My mentality had to keep changing and I had to keep adapting through the race. It’s like, ‘I’ve got it,’ ‘no, I don’t have it’; ‘I’m going to have to defend hard; ‘No, it’s fine, no, it’s not fine’.
“So, yeah, just keeping calm in the car.”
Da Costa and Evans have both placed themselves firmly into title contention with Wehrlein. With more than half of the season left to go, there are plenty of other drivers who cannot be discounted, but the three veterans are well-placed.
READ MORE – Antonio Felix da Costa leads contentious Jaguar 1-2 in Madrid E-Prix thriller
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