Tag Heuer Porsche have seen their appeal against the decision to disqualify Antonio Felix da Costa from the Misano E-Prix rejected by the sport’s governing body.
The Portuguese driver stormed to victory in the first race of the double-header at the Italian circuit on April 13th, but six hours after the race, stewards disqualified his #13 Porsche from the final result after the discovery of an out-of-date throttle damper spring, contravening Article 27.10 of the Sporting Regulations and Article 3.3 of the Technical Regulations.
Porsche quickly made the decision to appeal, and after over two months of deliberation, the FIA have finally decided that the original decision will stand.
This causes a blow to Porsche’s chances of winning the Teams’ Championship, as well as effectively ending any possibility of da Costa making a late charge for the Drivers’ crown, having since won races in both Berlin and Shanghai respectively.
Porsche may now opt to deploy da Costa as a support for team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, who sits second in the standings, behind Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy.