Across five Formula E races in the second half of the 2024 season, Antonio Felix da Costa took four wins spanning Berlin, Shanghai and Portland – where he doubled up.
Even after losing an earlier victory at Misano, due to an illegal throttle pedal spring that offered no tangible advantage, the Portuguese ended the campaign with the most wins of any driver.
These performances signified a remarkable turnaround in form, after a poor start to the season that denied him a true title shot, also put his position with Porsche under threat, and could have ended the 2019-20 champion’s tenure in Formula E.
Ranking da Costa’s wins
5. Misano 1
Da Costa’s ‘win’ in Italy had to come bottom on this list. Although he took the victory on-the-road, he was ultimately disqualified for a technical infringement.
Nevertheless, his performance arguably saved his seat on the grid, having faced severe scrutiny from within Porsche after failing to score in the opening three races. Abt driver Nico Muller had been handed a test with the German manufacturer, fuelling speculation da Costa would be replaced mid-season.
After starting down in 13th, da Costa kept out of trouble unlike the leading title protagonists and made the decisive move for the lead with three laps remaining on Oliver Rowland (Nissan) before the officials intervened.
4. Portland 1
Only three of the 27 laps during the opening race in America were led by da Costa, and none of those were the final lap. He trailed home behind Mitch Evans, after Jaguar had looked set to dominate proceedings.
With two laps remaining it held a 1-2, leader Nick Cassidy on the cusp of the title, but a spin approaching the final lap opened the door for Evans. However the Kiwi was demoted to eighth due to a five-second time penalty, handing da Costa victory after keeping up constant pressure in the closing stages.
3. Shanghai 2
“I was trying to secretly tell them what the gameplan was and I think they understood,” said da Costa, having taken victory in China after working with Norman Nato from Porsche customer team Andretti in the early stages.
With temperatures proving a critical element of the race and overtaking at a premium around a truncated version of the Shanghai International Circuit also used by Formula 1, da Costa ensured he remained towards the front throughout. He led 14 of the 28 laps and was never headed from lap 16 onwards, after passing Nato into Turn 1.
2. Portland 2
The final win of his rollercoaster campaign, da Costa’s race management was on top form around a Portland track where overtaking was easier than most other circuits on the calendar.
After producing his best qualifying effort of the season with second, da Costa remained towards the front throughout but only led one lap prior to the end phase. On a safety car restart, he made the jump on leader Robin Frijns (Envision) into Turn 1 and was never headed afterwards, despite the constant threats from behind.
1.Berlin 2
His first official win of the season, da Costa went up against and beat both Jaguar drivers in a fair fight on a day when the Big Cat package was arguably the quickest combination in Berlin. Having started down in 10th, da Costa hit the front as early as lap seven and remarkably led 23 of the 41 laps.
As Cassidy, Evans and Rowland battled behind, da Costa managed his energy to perfection to hold off a charging Cassidy and begin his season turnaround.
