As one of the longest standing drivers in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Antonio Felix da Costa has driven in every season to-date. After three campaigns with the BMW-backed Andretti outfit, da Costa joined reigning champions DS TECHEETAH for the 2019/20 season and immediately made his mark, storming to the title. He couldn’t repeat the feat in Season 7, but signing off Gen2 on a high is the aim.
With six seasons of all-electric single seater racing under his belt, reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa is one of the most experienced Formula E drivers on the grid.
Da Costa grew up in family of racers and started karting at the age of nine, competing in a number of domestic series in his native Portugal. In 2007, he progressed into single-seaters, in Formula Renault 2.0, and after catching the eye in both Formula 3 Euro Series and GP3, he would eventually join the Red Bull Junior Team. After making his Formula 1 test debut for Force India in 2010, the Portuguese went on to pilot four of legendary car designer Adrian Newey's title-winning Red Bull Racing machines.
Da Costa has been a fixture in Formula E since Season 1, starting out his journey as a driver for Team Aguri in 2014, where he raced for two seasons - securing an early maiden victory in his debut campaign in Buenos Aires.
The Lisbon-born driver moved to American outfit Andretti for two seasons, benefiting from the team's technical partnership with BMW in 2017/18. Andretti's technical partnership with the German marque blossomed into a full manufacturer effort, with team newly-christened BMW i Andretti Motorsport for Season 5, with Da Costa and teammate Alexander Sims announced as the team's debut driver line up. The top step of the podium had proved elusive since his first taste of the winner's Moet & Chandon champagne in 2014/15, until his win at the opening round of the 2018/19 season in Saudi Arabia.
He mounted a title charge with BMW as the season went on, eventually falling by the wayside, and Da Costa made his move to pastures new for Season 6 as he joined DS TECHEETAH alongside double champion Jean-Eric Vergne. Both drivers were gunning for the crown, but it was Da Costa that made the most headway, eventually storming to a record-equalling three wins on the spin between Round 5 in Marrakesh and Round 7 in Berlin - enough to steer him to the Drivers' Championship in dominant style.
With competition hotter than ever in Season 7, da Costa was the man with the target on his back. A single podium in Diriyah was the only silverware the Portuguese could accrue in the first half of a hard-fought campaign.
Three non-scores - including a disqualification for running out of usable energy having led an extraordinary encounter in Valencia - was not what the DS driver would have hoped for but a statement victory via a last lap overtaking manoeuvre in Monaco provided a season-high.
Can the Season 6 champ push for a second Formula E title in 2021/22?