Formula E Diriyah ePrix I
Da Costa blames "overly aggressive" Ticktum for lap 1 Diriyah FE exit
Antonio Felix da Costa lamented a bout of software issues at the start of Formula E's Diriyah opener, which left him "vulnerable" to an "overly aggressive" Dan Ticktum.
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Jan 29, 2022, 11:15 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Da Costa's race was over on the first lap following a string of misfortune, in which he suffered with power issues on the line which meant he was slow to get away.
He was then caught between Oliver Askew on his left and Dan Ticktum on his right at the first corner, with the latter stuffing his NIO 333 car past da Costa's DS Techeetah.
The Portuguese driver was left with terminal suspension damage and had to retreat immeditely to the pits, and felt that Ticktum should have dialled down his aggression at the start.
"As soon as I got off the line, my car switched off - some kind of software problem - and then it came back on," da Costa explained.
"But obviously you're very vulnerable at that moment with just cars coming across you, and I got to T1 and the driver [Ticktum] on my inside locked up which then hit me. I hit another guy and I broke my front left suspension.
"I was a bit unlucky because I got put in the middle of two rookies between Ticktum and Askew.
"One of them was overly cautious which to me was the right approach, which was Oliver and good for him, he had a good race.
"And Dan, he just came where there was no [room], he shouldn't have been there and was overly aggressive and yeah, he ended my race."
Dan Ticktum, NIO 333, NIO 333 001
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Ticktum said that while the incident into Turn 1 was unfortunate, he felt that he was focused on trying to get a clean start and hadn't "lunged" into the first corner.
The Brit was also less complimentary about Askew's driving than da Costa, stating that the American driver "spent more time hitting me than not hitting me" in the early part of the race.
"I was on the inside into turn one," Ticktum told Motorsport.com.
"I mean, it was obviously very unfortunate. [Antonio] is a driver I respect a lot, but I didn't know that there's three cars on the outside, you know, I'm just on the inside. And it's not like I lunged into Turn 1.
"I just tried to focus on getting a clean start - that didn't happen.
"Then Askew, a couple of laps later in Turns 18 to 21, spent more time hitting me than not hitting me in that section of track.
"So I ended up having to overconsume a lot, and then he ran me very wide, nearly into the wall in the last corner.
"It was right on the borderline of a penalty, I would say, it's about harsh as you can get in terms of you know, aggressive racing.
"I went to the back basically, and then just tried to focus on getting used to everything: energy management, being consistent, and I was in fairness.
"I was quicker than my teammate and GIovinazzi. and I just feel like if I wasn't hampered at the start I could have maybe been in the top 15."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Dennis "imagined" he'd lose second to de Vries at Diriyah FE start
Next article Askew: Diriyah FE points run 'most fun racing in a long time'
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
Kimi Antonelli: "Weird" spin and car instability cost F1 Brazilian GP win
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
15 h
Kimi Antonelli: "Weird" spin and car instability cost F1 Brazilian GP win
More from
Antonio Felix da Costa
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
Alpine explains decision to drop Antonio Felix da Costa, Fred Makowiecki from Fuji WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Alpine explains decision to drop Antonio Felix da Costa, Fred Makowiecki from Fuji WEC line-up
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Latest news
How the Racing Bulls pendulum is swinging back towards undeniable Liam Lawson
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
4 min
How the Racing Bulls pendulum is swinging back towards undeniable Liam Lawson
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
26 min
How Max Verstappen beat Red Bull's own simulation tools with P2 in Brazil
Who slept best last night: Toto Wolff
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
46 min
Who slept best last night: Toto Wolff
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe