Antonio Felix da Costa has described his runner-up spot to his former BMW i Andretti Motorsport team in Santiago as an awkward situation.
Da Costa joined reigning Formula E Teams’ champions DS Techeetah for the present Season 6 campaign, partnering Jean-Eric Vergne by taking the place of Porsche-bound Andre Lotterer, leaving BMW as a result.
At the third race of the 2019/20 season, da Costa found himself in direct competition with his former BMW team, battling wheel-to-wheel with Maximilian Guenther – his replacement at the German marque.
Overtaking the 22-year-old with two minutes + 1 lap of racing remaining, da Costa secured the lead of the race in the Chilean capital, however, amidst miscommunication regarding temperatures, fell down to second as Guenther overtook only three corners away from the chequered flag.
While Guenther became Formula E’s youngest winner to date by crossing the line in first place, da Costa recorded second – his first podium since the 2019 New York City E-Prix.
“So much happened during that race!” said the Portuguese racer who ultimately took second. “It is a bit of an awkward situation losing the win to BMW i Andretti Motorsport as my old team, but congratulations to Max.
“I am happy where I am, and we are only going to get better and improve as a team. It is going to be a fun season. A lot of positives to take away, but I lost out at the start as I got a massive hit from behind and my steering was never straight for the rest of the race.
“However, we have speed in the car and that made all the difference. I lost a lot of time behind JEV and was fed some wrong information on temperatures and when it all came down to the last lap… these guys just managed it better.”
For Vergne, the Frenchman’s slow start to Season 6 only worsened in Santiago where a front-left issue forced the 29-year-old into retirement – his second DNF in three races:
“I’m disappointed to not have won the race as I was in a position to do so,” he said, running in the podium positions when his terminal issue manifested.
“In the first three laps it’s always a bit of a bunch up of the cars and I damaged my front wing, and towards the end of the race it eventually broke when I was running in third so I had to retire the car. We had great pace and good energy, so I had a good shot at winning.
“Nevertheless, I’m very proud of my team because we were really quick and I think that’s a positive to take with us. Only three races and four points but I have an amazing team around me, and the motivation is very high.
“The spirit of the race today is the spirit we’re going to have for the season, full attack.”
