Formula E Marrakesh E-Prix
Da Costa: Formula E title chances 'are done', willing to help Vergne win
DS Techeetah's Antonio Felix da Costa will spend the rest of 2021-22 helping teammate Jean-Eric Vergne secure a third Formula E title, stating that "the championship is done for me".
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Jul 2, 2022, 9:03 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
2019-20 champion da Costa has endured a difficult season so far, failing to score in the opening races at Diriyah and since then has struggled to keep on Vergne's pace through the year.
The Portuguese driver has yet to finish on the podium this season, and now sits 62 points behind his teammate in the standings - and 67 behind championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne.
Da Costa explained that he was now expecting to play a role as Vergne's tail-gunner, and help Techeetah bag the teams' championship, where it is 16 points adrift of Mercedes.
"I think pretty much the championship now is done for me," da Costa admitted.
"So I have an important goal to help the team finish first in the constructors' championship. And then if I can help my teammate at some point that's going to come into play as well.
"At the moment, I'm still targeting race wins and podiums; I haven't had a podium this year, we have been close a few times. So that's the goal."
Antonio Felix da Costa, DS Techeetah Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Techeetah
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Da Costa explained that his LMP2 triumph with the Jota squad at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours gave him motivation, particularly hoping that it could help further good results this year follow in Formula E.
He added that his side of the Techeetah garage had not been able to maximise the performance of his car quite to the same level of Vergne across the season - but felt that his team was making step-by-step improvements.
"As an athlete to know, as a racing driver, the chance of good results coming from the back of a good result, it's always motivating.
"I have to say honestly, I haven't had as smooth a season in this year in Formula E. But we've been getting closer to the top each race.
"In Jakarta we were fighting for pole and qualifying in the top five almost every race now. So we're close. There are still a few things that we're not nailing as a team on my side of the garage as JEV has been, he's been really putting almost everything together.
"But we're close and it's good preparation for this place. Obviously, winning Le Mans is good for my for my motivation as well."
Read Also:
- Gen3 FE car offers "good step up", mixed reviews on "rock" Hankook tyres
- Formula E unveils first 2022-23 calendar draft including India, Brazil
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 Gen3 FE car offers "good step up", mixed reviews on "rock" Hankook tyres
Next article Marrakesh E-Prix: Vergne leads DS Techeetah 1-2 in practice
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
Why Ferrari failed to deliver on its hype in F1's United States GP qualifying
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Why Ferrari failed to deliver on its hype in F1's United States GP qualifying
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
Dakar announces Portugal and Morocco as 2027 host destinations
Dakar
DAKR Dakar 24 min
Dakar announces Portugal and Morocco as 2027 host destinations
Jorge Martin declared fit to race in Malaysian GP after FP1
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
3 h
Jorge Martin declared fit to race in Malaysian GP after FP1
Cetilar unveils blue Ferrari 499P ahead of Hypercar debut
Asian Le Mans
AsLM Asian Le Mans 5 h
Cetilar unveils blue Ferrari 499P ahead of Hypercar debut
2026 MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
6 h
2026 MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
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