Antonio Felix da Costa told Motorsport Week that he’s hopeful for a positive finish at the Monaco E-Prix – and get his title challenge back on track – after a difficult weekend in Berlin.
Da Costa has had mixed results in the opening half of Formula E Season 12, taking back-to-back wins in Jeddah Race 2 and Madrid before struggling in both races in Berlin.
Despite topping practice sessions in Berlin, set-up issues and inconsistency hampered his ability to fight for good results in the races, with finishes of tenth in Race 1 and as the final classified driver in Race 2.
However, before his victories, Da Costa was happy with the car’s performance and more confident that the struggles were a one-off rather than a warning of races to come.
“I think Berlin probably took us back a little bit from the track that we were on, but not for a lack of performance, which is the reassuring thing for us.” He told Motorsport Week.
“We topped a couple of sessions in Berlin, a qualifying group, so we’ve been very, very fast in one lap. All through this season, we’ve been really quick in one lap, and Berlin is not a track that rewards that.”
A look at Monaco
With the tight walls and the tricky strategy, qualifying plays a far bigger role around Monaco, with overtaking much tougher around the winding street. Qualifying higher up on the grid can keep a driver in the running for a win even if their race pace is behind those around them.
Da Costa touched on this, stating that qualifying up front was far more important than it was in Berlin.
“Here definitely is, so hopefully we’ll be good here in one lap, be able to qualify up front and then it’s going to be some interesting races here.”
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