FE | Da Costa: “Difficult start, we need to understand why”

Among the great disappointments of this start to the season in Formula E there seems to be a shadow of a doubt Antonio Felix da Costa. In the first three rounds of the world championship the Portuguese was unable to collect even one point despite the team providing him with a competitive package, as demonstrated by the two victories obtained by the 99X Electric at this start of the championship.

Although it is true that in the last two years of Gen 2 he had already alternated high-level performances with more subdued results, on the other hand both 2023 and the beginning of 2024 have held very little satisfaction. Precisely in the wake of an uninspiring Season 9, Porsche had decided to cut him from its WEC program, where he ran with the JOTA customer team, so that he could focus exclusively on the electric category.

After several championships concluded in the lower part of the rankings, in the debut year of the new Gen3 the German team finally managed to put an extremely fast car on the track, capable of fighting for the top of the category. A half-exploited potential, because even though the title was achieved with the Andretti team's customer Porsche, clearly the Stuttgart brand aims to win both world championship crowns and the dream would be to do so with the official team.

An objective in which Porsche has invested considerably both on a technical and financial level, which is why the decision to relieve Da Costa of his commitments in the Endurance World Championship is not totally surprising, although the Portuguese driver himself had actually made it clear how he would preferred to continue in both categories. For example, the Andretti customer team had also explained how one of the reasons that had led to the hiring of Norman Nato to replace André Lotterer was that the Frenchman was not involved in the WEC, although in reality he signed with JOTA in a second moment.

However, for now Da Costa seems not only a shadow of the driver admired in the past, but in some ways also of the one from last season. In 2023 the first top 8 in qualifying only arrived in Sao Paulo although, thanks to good performances and the qualities of the 99X Electric in terms of energy management over long distances, it still managed to achieve notable results in the race, among including a victory in South Africa, a podium in India and two points finishes in Mexico and Brazil. Other good results then arrived during the year, including podiums in Portland and London (with the latter later revoked by the stewards because the minimum tire pressure was below the minimum value following a slow puncture), but also more disappointing placings.

The underlying problem is that, if in 2023 the Portuguese often managed to come back in the race by entering the top 10 thanks to a good pace, this year this element is also missing, which adds to the difficulties in qualifying. Since the beginning of Gen 3, the weak point of the Porsche-powered cars has been the performance on the flying lap, so much so that even his teammate on several occasions in Season 9 had not been able to access the duels, thus having to aim for a race on a comeback.

For this reason, during the break Porsche worked hard on software management and lap preparation: in fact, in the first two rounds of this season Pascal Wehrlein managed to overcome elimination in the group stage, while in the second round in Saudi Arabia the worsening of the track highlighted some limitations of the 99X.

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

In Diriyah the asphalt is renewed every year and, as often happens, at the beginning of the weekend it is quite dirty due to the dust and sand that settles on the track. Curiously, in the second round of the weekend the conditions worsened, surprising several competitors, including the cars powered by the Porsche Powertrain, all of which were already eliminated from the groups. Difficulties that even resulted in the last row on the starting grid for Da Costa, among other things with a deficit of more than a second compared to the reference time of his group. In the race he then managed to recover some positions, but only overtook the cars powered by the Mahindra Powertrain and the ERTs, which undoubtedly have a less competitive package.

“We are not satisfied with this second day of racing with only one Porsche in the top 10. Pascal scored important points, climbing up to seventh place with some risky overtaking. Unfortunately, it was the only Porsche in the points today. The blame for this result can be attributed to our poor performances in qualifying. We need to work on this aspect. This will be our main focus during the break until Sao Paulo,” explained Florian Modlinger, head of the German brand's Formula E project.

Speaking during the Arab weekend, the Portuguese driver himself struggled to give a reason for his difficulties, as he cannot identify a single weak point to work on: the balance is inconsistent and varies from understeer to oversteer in the space of a few curves. Being able to drive and find the right sensations with such unpredictable behavior is a difficult challenge to overcome, especially if you don't understand how the tires work well.

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Antonio Felix da Costa, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3

Compared to the last generation, the tires made by Hankook do not seem to guarantee good grip, making qualifying even more complex, so much so that several drivers in the last year have asked to make changes, which however will not arrive before next season with the debut of Gen 3.5. Another theme not to be underestimated is the improvement of the rivals: compared to Season 9, the opponents have also grown by making important steps forward, as demonstrated by the results of DS and Maserati, to which is also added the good performance of Nissan and McLaren in the second round in Saudi Arabia.

“It wasn't our day. We had a fast car, but it was still difficult to put together a good qualifying lap. Qualifying was the most important session today, because it is extremely difficult to overtake in the race”, Da Costa said at the end of the first day. Negative feelings were then also underlined at the end of the second round: “What a disappointing day. We are racking our brains to understand why things are going this way. But I have never been one to give up and I will do everything I can to get out of this difficult situation as soon as possible.”

Such a difficult start, with no apparent short-term solutions, also has repercussions on a mental level, an aspect that Da Costa himself has never hidden. Given the cancellation of the Indian ePrix, the Portuguese and Porsche will now have six weeks to study the data in depth and look for a solution to regain competitiveness, both on a technical and mental level.