Antonio Felix da Costa has said that racing with intelligence and knowing when and when not to take risks is what will help him in his Formula E title bid.
The Portuguese, who is leading the World Championship after two second-place finishes in the opening two rounds, has already spoken about how consistency is what will enable him to mount a serious challenge, having won four races in Season 10 but only finishing P5 in the standings.
Speaking to Motorsport Week, da Costa admitted that whilst he doesn’t like the title talk being banded about too early, he is aware the “the championship plot is always there, but that’s the end goal.
“But the reality is, yeah, we just have to keep doing what we’re doing, race smart, measure the risks that we take. I think we’ve had the cursor in the right place, you know, in measuring our risks versus rewards, and yeah, look, we were in contention to win two races, and in the end we decided to settle for second, because we know the end game.
“So yeah, just keep the work going. I know we’re not going to finish second all the time, I know we’re not going to win every race, but I want this to be the year of consistency, and I think that’s the key.”
Balancing the risks from the potential reward is one of the key aspects of Formula E, as fortunes and results can flip like a coin, but da Costa also acknowledges that whilst Porsche might have the fastest car, others will always be lurking around to pounce and get the better of them.
“I think every race that we lose out to somebody who gambled, we can’t be mad about that.
“There will be more people winning races with a little bit of luck this year, and that’s fine. If we do end up losing a race win because we did something wrong ourselves, then yes, we need to kind of slap ourselves on the wrist and learn from it.
“But the way we’ve lost a race in Brazil, the way we’ve lost a race in Mexico, I’ll never be angry about those. It’s a shame we lost a race in Brazil to Mitch, who will be a championship contender, and again in Mexico to Oliver, who will be a championship contender.”
Jeddah circuit ‘feels weird’ but da Costa hopeful of Porsche result
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is staging the Saudi Arabian leg of the championship for the first time, and the smooth surface is not what FE drivers are used to, but da Costa has faith in the Porsche car to perform well on all circuits, as it predominantly did last season, but said the layout is, understandably, not what he is used to in this category.
“Whenever we go to super smooth places, it feels really weird for me. I think we’re not spoiled with this type of track.
“We have permanent circuits and stuff, but it is what it is – same for everybody. I think we’ve done well in permanent tracks in the past, looking at Misano [S10, when da Costa won Race 1, though later disqualified, with Wehrlein winning Race 2], looking at Mexico [P2-P3], Shanghai [S10, da Costa won Race 2], so it’s places that we do well, so I’m not anticipating anything out of the ordinary here.
“I think the package is strong, and we have everything to be in the top five. The flow of the track seems pretty cool in the sim, at least that’s as far as we went. Let’s see.”
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