Season 6 champion returns to the top step of the podium with emotional success back at the scene of his title triumph.
António Félix da Costa raced to his ninth career victory in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on the streets of Berlin today (12 May), delivering TAG Heuer Porsche a popular home soil success at the scene of his Season 6 title triumph.
Da Costa was a man on the move from the outset in the weekend’s second Berlin E-Prix, executing a superb opening lap around the historic Tempelhof Airport circuit to climb immediately from tenth up to sixth.
The Portuguese star hit the front of the field on lap seven before activating the first of his two mandatory Attack Modes, remaining up at the sharp end throughout while simultaneously conserving more energy than his immediate rivals.
Once all of the Attack Modes had played out, it was the Porsche driver back at the head of the 22-car order, and da Costa chose that moment to pull the pin, streaking away from his pursuers to cement his first win of the 2023/24 campaign.
Saturday star Nick Cassidy (Jaguar TCS Racing) reduced the margin to under seven tenths-of-a-second by the chequered flag – posting fastest lap in the process – to extend his championship lead to 16 points.
From the outside of the front row, the New Zealander stole the initiative at the start and stayed in the thick of the fight race-long, making late passes on team-mate Mitch Evans and Nissan Formula E Team’s Oliver Rowland to secure the runner-up spoils – his seventh rostrum appearance of the campaign.
Much as he had done 24 hours earlier, Rowland scythed from a lowly 16th on the grid to ascend the podium – for the sixth time in Season 10. The ultra-consistent Brit was on characteristically feisty form, pouncing upon every opportunity presented to him.
Home hero Pascal Wehrlein placed fourth for Porsche, fractionally ahead of defending champion Jake Dennis, who had begun the E-Prix from pole position. The pair swapped paintwork on several occasions, with the German narrowly getting the better of his Andretti Formula E rival to keep the pressure on Cassidy in the chase for the crown.
Evans wound up sixth, exploiting a different Attack Mode strategy to the majority of his competitors but paying the price for a last lap error, as the Jaguar driver ran wide and conceded ground to both Wehrlein and Dennis.
Jehan Daruvala bounced back from the disappointment of missing out on points on Saturday by fighting through the field from 13th to seventh – the Maserati MSG Racing rookie’s finest result to-date in the all-electric single-seater series.
Taylor Barnard scored for the second day in succession for NEOM McLaren Formula E Team as the British teenager impressed again by finishing eighth – a ten-place improvement upon his grid position – with Envision Racing stand-in Joel Eriksson taking ninth and two-time champion Jean-Éric Vergne rounding out the top ten for DS Penske.
The 2023/24 Formula E campaign continues with another double-header contest on 25-26 May, when the championship travels to Shanghai in China for the first time since COVID.
Antonio Felix da Costa, Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E
“It just feels great to win at a home race for Porsche, it’s amazing. We’ve got so many guests here: so many people who work in the factory that don’t normally get to come to the races, our Board members are here, so it’s definitely a special one. Honestly, it’s been a tough start to the season and we’ve been building a really good momentum, always closing the gap to the championship leaders and feels good to take this one. You have to work hard when things aren’t right, but when you have the right people around you it makes it a little bit easier. I want to dedicate this to my engineer’s father-in-law who passed away this week, so it’s for him and his family.”
Oliver Rowland, Nissan Formula E Team
“Yesterday’s strategy was obviously to try and get quickly to the front, and today it was slightly different because we knew everybody might copy. So, for the first five laps we stayed calm and then we went on a mission – again it was a bit like I arrived at the front and it was a little bit too quick, but it’s a super tough race, everybody’s been aggressive. The tough thing for me was that I had two Porsches and two Jaguars kind of trying to help each other, and then me alone trying to fight them a bit, but it was fun, there was a lot of contact, and great to come from 16th to third.”
Nick Cassidy, Jaguar TCS Racing
“Ultimately, it’s been a great weekend for us. I feel sorry for Mitch [Evans], he lost out a bit, but I feel like we both could’ve maybe had a bit of a better race. We try to work together – that sometimes works, it sometimes doesn’t, but we gave it our best. It was an eventful race but ultimately it’s been a fantastic weekend. I’m proud of my guys and girls. We turned things around a bit overnight and had a really fast package today – it has been a really good day. Antonio drove fantastically today and when he picked up the pace at the end, I thought he was quicker than us as well, so a really deserved win and I’m so happy for him. For the title fight, we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. The team’s done an amazing job, I’m really enjoying it and I’m really proud to be driving for Jaguar TCS Racing.”
Next up
The next outing for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and Andretti Formula E is rounds 11 and 12 at the Shanghai E-Prix on 25 and 26 May.
