There were many rumors circulating in recent weeks, with Antonio Felix Da Costa he had been linked to Mercedes, while Nyck de Vries had been hired by the Williams Formula 1 team, and there were rumors of a return to Andretti Autosport, after the owner of the Techeetah team, SECA, had sought investment in the wake of the pandemic.
Motorsport.com learns that all of this has led to Costa and teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, whose contract with the team expired at the end of last season, to spend long periods without pay. Prior to the London E-Prix in late July, the team had been introduced to a Canadian who had tentatively put together a deal to buy and rename the Techeetah part of the partnership with carmaker DS.
However, the acquisition fell, leaving the future of the team and its drivers in suspense. But the Portuguese has almost confirmed that he has an agreement for next season to stay with the team with which he won the 2019-20 drivers title. Speaking to Motorsport.com on the eve of the decisive round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain, where he is fighting for the LMP2 title with JOTA, da Costa said: “I have not yet been announced to the team, but I believe it is a very kept secret. bad. Everything is going well”.
Antonio Felix Da Costa, DS Techeetah, DS E-Tense FE21
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
“I’m looking forward to returning to the same organization and the same people for the third year. I’ve always said it’s one of the strongest teams in Formula E. They have so many championships to their name so I’m very happy to be back and all preparations are going well. We will be in Valencia in a couple of weeks for the pre-season tests, I can’t wait to do that test ”.
DS Techeetah ended the 2021 season in third place overall, with da Costa only eighth in the drivers’ standings, two places ahead of two-time champion Vergne. The 30-year-old expects Mercedes – and its team of Venturi customers – to remain the benchmark for next season, with homologation rules preventing teams from introducing major upgrades to their existing powertrains.
Da Costa continued: “I’m 100% sure Mercedes will be there again and with two teams or four cars all super good drivers, with Lucas di Grassi joining Venturi they will be a team to beat for sure. Venturi has arrived. second in the drivers’ championship and Edoardo Mortara is also an extraordinary driver, and someone like Lucas will make them even stronger. Nissan as always, Jaguar has been super strong and Envision has always been very strong as well. There will be at least 12 drivers who can do a big work”.
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