António Félix da Costa finally took his first podium finish of the 2021-22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season in the Marrakesh E-Prix, although he feels it is too late for him to make a late challenge to take his second Drivers’ title.
The DS Techeetah driver took pole position in Morocco and led the early laps amid difficult conditions due to the heat, but ultimately did not have the pace in the car when it mattered to deny ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara the victory.
Félix da Costa tried his best to get the strategy right to deny Mortara the win, but he came up 2.297 seconds short. However, he hopes he can carry the momentum from a strong Marrakesh weekend into the remaining six races of the season to end the year on a high.
“It was a strong day, pole position and P2 in the race,” said Félix da Costa. “The race was crazy! We were leading, then we lost it. We tried to have the right strategy but in the end we just missed a little bit to Edo (Mortara).
“I’m happy with that, first podium of the season, it came a little bit late, but we are building momentum and we are looking strong to finish the season on a high.”
“I was struggling a lot at the end” – Jean-Éric Vergne
Team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne missed out on joining him on the podium, with the Frenchman losing out in the final laps to Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans.
Vergne had been involved in the battle at the front of the field all afternoon long but had been forced to give up second place to Félix da Costa to allow the Portuguese driver to go after Mortara, but when it looked as though he was on course for another top three finish, his pace appeared to disappear when it mattered at the end.
Ultimately, fourth was the best he could achieve, and he says he will need to understand why the pace dropped off when it did that prevented him from standing on the podium.
“Marrakesh is done, I finished P4,” said Vergne. “I was struggling a lot at the end, so we need to understand what happened.
“The race was looking strong up to that point and it’s a shame, but the next two races are in New York, I love this city so I can’t wait to arrive there and deliver a strong result.”
