Antonio Felix da Costa is aware of a factor or two about dropping a transparent win due to a stewards’ choice. Solely this time round, he was the beneficiary.
On the first race of the Misano E-Prix, the TAG Heuer Porsche driver ended a dismal run of type to win on the highway, just for an unlawful half to disqualify him afterward. In Portland, Mitch Evans crossed the road first, however a penalty for contact with NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes dropped him down the order.
Da Costa is aware of precisely the way it feels, however that didn’t cease him having fun with the second.
“I’ve acquired to say congrats to Mitch as a result of he did win this one on the monitor and I understand how it feels to have one taken away, so hats off to him,” he conceded. “However we’ll take it; we did all the pieces proper as we speak. It’s all the time arduous combating towards two automobiles of the identical group, however we had been in a position to put the Jags underneath stress there, and with Nick making a mistake on the finish…”
After a comparatively nameless race for his championship-challenging teammate, da Costa was combating a solo battle for Porsche towards the sturdy Jaguar pairing of Evans and Nick Cassidy, however with Evans’ penalty and a late race spin for Cassidy – which price him a possible win – the Portuguese driver got here out on high.
“I simply actually needed to maintain it clear and be there on the finish and see the way it unfolded,” da Costa stated. “It seemed like I used to be going to complete third after which Nick made a mistake, Mitch had a penalty, and we took the win there on the finish so it’s a tremendous run of races to be trustworthy.”
The win, no matter type it’d take, is da Costa’s third of the yr and third from the final 4 races. It’s a outstanding turnaround in type for a driver who not solely didn’t register a podium within the first 9 races of the yr (together with the stripped win in Italy), but additionally was the topic of paddock rumors relating to his future throughout the Porsche group.
“I’ll by no means ever, after what I’ve been by way of this yr, take any win or any podium with no consideration. I acquired fortunate as we speak to get this win so I’ll ensure that to take pleasure in it for certain,” he stated of his rebound. “I’ve learnt lots about myself, I’ve learnt lots about individuals, about sports activities, about all the pieces. I feel when you may have unhealthy instances and you are taking the good things out of it, you turn into a bit bit stronger.
“Everybody right here’s been up and down of their life in some unspecified time in the future in racing so – as we speak we had been fortunate – I’ll by no means take them with no consideration. I’ll be pleased, I’ll rejoice as a result of I understand how arduous it’s to win a race lately, so I’ll undoubtedly take this one.”
