When Antonio Felix da Costa climbed from his car having crossed the line fifth in the Hong Kong season-opener, neither he nor his Andretti team would have imagined that would have been his only points of the season.
Having elected to not run its own powertrain in Season 2, Andretti knew that it was playing catch-up in Season 3, but given the resources at its disposal, there was a natural expectation that this was a task it was more than capable of performing.
The addition of BMW-backed da Costa – a race winner with Aguri in Season 1 and a constant strong performer – appeared to be the ideal fit. But for a variety of reasons, it just never came together.
Da Costa lined up 10th for round two in Marrakesh, which aside from an excellent sixth-place start in Mexico, was his only other top-10 starting position of the season. He was in line for a decent haul of points in Mexico when gearbox problems ended his race, but that was the only occasion when he really threatened to add to his tally.
Perhaps most disappointing was his showing in Buenos Aires, where he won in Season 1 and was in the hunt for the Season 2 win before retiring. But this season he was a lowly 17th on the grid and crashed out of the race without getting close to the points.
There is no doubting da Costa’s talents, but he needs a car capable of delivering, and sadly, this season that was lacking.