António Félix da Costa said that he believed he would win the FE Mexico E-Prix for Porsche. A safety car, which benefitted race winner Oliver Rowland spoiled the party for the Portuguese driver.
Pascal Wehrlein won the qualifying final against his team-mate da Costa and took pole position. Rowland followed closely after his fourth-place start and used Attack Mode strategically. Despite the late safety car interruption, he was able to use the boost to get past both Porsche cars and win the race.
Da Costa is happy for Porsche double-podium
Following the race, da Costa is leading the top of the drivers standings with 37 points, while Rowland moved up to second. Porsche remains in the lead of the manufacturers’ standings but is closely followed by Nissan.
Da Costa thought he would win the Mexico E-Prix and rues the safety car interruption. But at the same time the 33-year-old is happy for being on the podium for a second time in a row.
“That’s a double podium, so firstly to all the boys and girls on the team: thank you so much for the incredible work to allow us to show our talent on track,” the Porsche driver said in a press release of the team.
“I thought we had the win today, I really did, and then the safety car came to spoil the party. Nonetheless, I am happy with this, a double podium for the team and two podiums in two races for me.”
Disappointed but season is still long
Post-race, da Costa explained he is a bit disappointed with second place but he knows that the current FE season is still long. He adds his thanks to the Porsche team for giving him a strong car to compete for the championship.
”I’m happy with two podiums in a row, but it looks like it was a weekend for P2. I’m a little bit disappointed but it’s a long season. I came here with the mentality to score some good points and we did just that, so I’m happy with this.
”It needs to be said that it’s the first time I’ve been on the podium with my teammate since I joined this team, so this is for everyone back home, they work long long hours, thank you guys for providing us with such a strong package.
”The championship lead at this moment means nothing: I know the mentality I need to have this year – it’s there, we’re doing a good job, and we’re going to try and keep this up.”
Formula E returns in February for the Jeddah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia.
