The streak of different winners continued in Misano, as TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa became the sixth new winner in six races so far in Season 10. The Portuguese, who won the Formula E championship in Season 6, managed to go from 13th on the starting grid to take his ninth career victory in the all-electric championship.
It was an impressive win for several reasons, as he battled the rest of the grid in a race that witnessed an insane 544 overtakes. However, this silverware comes just weeks after speculation over his future at the team after a tough couple of races at the beginning of the season.
INTERVIEW: 'Mentality in motorsport' as Da Costa opens up
“We know we have a strong package in these types of races,” the Porsche driver stated after the race. “It was a very well-executed race, both in the garage and I was happy to be able to execute the plan well on-track.
“For key moments, I would say keeping the car clean and not touching anything and when the time came to pull the trigger and doing that efficiently. We were also able to be the first one to pull the trigger. It was close to perfection today. I'll try and qualify a little bit more further up the round tomorrow to make life a little bit easier for myself,” he joked.
Da Costa qualified in 14th but a disqualification for Jake Hughes saw him promoted up a place for the start of the race around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
“Regardless, I think we hope we can have another strong day tomorrow,” the race winner continued. “Awareness is the key word. I was very aware of where everybody was. There were a lot of fights that I had to lose out there to make sure I got my car clean, but I was always able to react and bring it home.”
This was always known to be a race for energy efficiency, but going into the final stages of the race Da Costa managed to stay two percent up on his nearest competition, Nissan’s Oliver Rowland.
“Oliver started a bit further up the road, and I had to spend a little bit of energy to get there initially,” he added. “But I know that we do have a strong powertrain and an efficient powertrain, so I knew we have a good chance on days like today.”
To celebrate his win, Antonio took a trip to the nearby swimming pool at the circuit and did a brilliant backflip and posed with his trophy. He also asked the team on the radio post-race to "please stay with me as a team, let's sort it out". They replied: "We're there mate - we've always been there," after reports emerged that they had tested ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller earlier on in the year.
“Stick a microphone in someone’s mouth at such emotional moments, and I'm not sure what's coming out but those were the words that came out for me at that time,” he said when addressing the radio.
“There are a lot of people that are with me in this garage, I think that's how we've been able to turn it around from Riyadh to now. We've got to keep doing our job and hopefully this clears the air a little bit.”
SCHEDULE: Where, when and how to watch or stream the 2024 Misano E-Prix Rounds 7
Round 7 gets underway with FP3 on Sunday morning at 08:00 local, with qualifying next at 10:20 and Round 7 itself at 15:00.
WATCH: How to watch or stream Formula E's Misano E-Prix weekend where you are
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