Da Costa Does The Double In Portland As Porsche Star Extends Winning Run

Former champion throws his hat into the ring for a second career crown with fourth victory from the last five races in Season 10. 

António Félix da Costa extended his winning run in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship at Portland International Raceway today (30 June), as the title tussle tightened up on a dramatic day in America’s Pacific Northwest.

From second on the grid, TAG Heuer Porsche star da Costa immediately served notice of his intent by seizing the initiative when the lights went out to squeeze past pole-sitter Jean-Éric Vergne (DS Penske) into Turn One.

The Season 6 champion remained up at the sharp end throughout as the lead changed hands numerous times, and survived light contact with Mahindra Racing rival Edoardo Mortara shortly after mid-distance that ended the Swiss driver’s race.

By dint of carefully conserving his energy, da Costa was able to reclaim the advantage when the action resumed with seven laps remaining following a short safety car intervention to clear up debris. 

Thereafter, the Portuguese ace held off a hard-charging Robin Frijns (Envision Racing) in the closing stages to secure a 12th career triumph in the all-electric single-seater series – his fourth from the most recent five E-Prixs. In so doing, he has extraordinarily catapulted himself into late-season title contention, sitting 33 points adrift of the top of the table with 58 still in play.

For Frijns, the runner-up spoils matched his result from the previous day to elevate him into the top ten in the championship classification. The Dutchman led on multiple occasions and got the better of Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans before doggedly hunting down da Costa, posting a fastest lap almost four tenths-of-a-second quicker than anybody else could muster along the way.

Evans’ third position has vaulted the New Zealander to only 12 points shy of the summit of the standings, tied for second place with Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein, who took the chequered flag just behind him in Portland in fourth.

The German’s race was not without its issues, however, as his front wing got tucked underneath his car on lap six after he hit the rear of Mortara, subsequently flying off and striking Sam Bird’s NEOM McLaren Formula E Team entry, which curtailed the Briton’s challenge.

Saturday podium-finisher Vergne tried his best to displace Wehrlein in the final laps but was ultimately obliged to settle for fifth, with Nico Müller completing a strong weekend for ABT CUPRA Formula E Team in sixth as he too enjoyed a spell at the front of the field. 

Norman Nato (Andretti Formula E) and Maximilian Günther (Maserati MSG Racing) fought through from the tail-end of the grid to grab seventh and eighth respectively, while Sébastien Buemi battled back from a drive-through penalty for a technical infraction – meted out just after the 2015/16 champion had taken the lead – to wind up ninth. 

Defending title-holder Jake Dennis found himself delayed by a mid-race pit-stop to replace a punctured tyre caused by contact, but nonetheless snuck the last point on offer in tenth. A similar fate befell championship leader Nick Cassidy (Jaguar), with the New Zealander only able to finish 13th at the end of a luckless – and point-less – weekend in the United States.

The 2023/24 Formula E campaign will conclude on the streets of London in three weeks’ time (20-21 July), with seven drivers still mathematically in the mix for honours.

António Félix da Costa, No. 13, Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E, said:

“This is crazy. I’m happy, I’m emotional, I’m angry, I’m everything. I’m just glad that I’m getting to ride this wave right now – I know it doesn’t last forever. I’ve been on it before, I’ve been out of it before, so I’m just going to try and keep doing things right. I’m going to enjoy this moment. A lot of people in this world live by the motto of never giving up but I think we’re going to a completely new degree of that motto if I’m honest!”

Robin Frijns, No. 4, Envision Racing, said:

“Today was a good way to bounce back definitely. We had a tough one, and I have to say the team did a mega job. We prepared well for this race, and we delivered, so I’m really happy with P2. Unfortunately we just missed out on the win – it was closer than yesterday, but having a double podium, I’ll take it. This season has been a struggle, I wanted to bounce back, I knew I could do it and I knew the team could do it, so here I am.”

Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing, said:

“We didn’t optimise qualifying on my side and the starting position wasn’t optimal for the second race, but it was a really hard-fought race. To get myself to the front I again had to do my attack quite late just because of the way the race was playing out, and I had to consume a lot of energy to make those overtakes with the high targets. I was a sitting duck at the end, but it gave me track position so good points. Obviously I would have loved to win, but after the Safety Car things really sped up, and third was the best we could do. Obviously it’s unfortunate what happened to Nick [Cassidy] but I came into this weekend just wanting to do my thing and see what happened. We’ll go into London close to Pascal [Wehrlein] and it’s going to be tight between us. Antonio [Felix da Costa] must be close as well, he’s won every race – at least it feels like it – in the past half a season. It’s going to be a big fight between us and Porsche, for sure.”