FORMULA E

E-Prix race in Cape Town ended in a thrilling and dramatic victory for Antonio Felix da Costa

Published

4 weeks ago

25/02/2023

Antonio Felix da Costa, who recently joined Porsche, achieved his first Formula E win in Cape Town by showcasing an exceptional driving performance. Despite starting from the 11th position on the grid, he made two remarkable high-speed overtaking maneuvers during the race.

Da Costa’s second astounding high-speed overtaking move helped secure his victory in Cape Town, which he had almost lost due to an earlier mistake. He had failed to activate the attack mode properly during his second attempt, putting his win in jeopardy.

During the race in Cape Town, da Costa initially lost his lead to Jean-Eric Vergne, his former DS Techeetah teammate. This happened because he re-entered the racing line just ahead of Vergne, without triggering all the necessary attack mode timing loops. As a result, da Costa was forced to try again and lost his lead to Vergne in the process.

However, da Costa refused to give up and continued to relentlessly pursue Vergne. He eventually reclaimed the first position with an incredible move, taking the outside line around the super-fast kink leading into Turn 8. In a bold move, da Costa managed to squeeze through a narrow gap with slight contact and successfully regained his lead.

A reminder that @afelixdacosta pulled this move off TWICE in the same race 😳#CapeTownEPrix https://t.co/NQiwVkSVqj— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) February 25, 2023

After the race, Vergne approached da Costa and, with a laugh, exclaimed, “I f***ing did not see you in the mirrors, man! That was a good one!”

Vergne’s second-place finish in Cape Town was a significant boost for his title race aspirations, as two of the championship leaders, Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Dennis, had disastrous races.

Wehrlein, driving for Porsche, collided with Sebastien Buemi during the first lap and was forced to retire due to suspension damage.

DRAMA ON THE OPENING LAP!!! 🤯

Our Championship leader @PWehrlein crashes into the back of @Sebastien_Buemi at Turn 7 and the yellow flag is out!#CapeTownEPrix— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) February 25, 2023

Jake Dennis, who was driving for Andretti, started the race from the 14th position after being penalized three places for impeding Stoffel Vandoorne during qualifying. In addition, he received a drive-through penalty for a tire pressure infringement, and eventually finished in the 13th position.

As for da Costa, his successful pass on Vergne marked his second attempt at the move, having previously overtaken Nick Cassidy with the same manoeuvre as he climbed his way up from the 11th position on the grid.

Prior to da Costa’s surge and eventual victory, the main contenders in the race were Envision driver Cassidy, Nissan’s pole-sitter Sacha Fenestraz, and Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther. They had been the leading drivers up to that point in the race.

Maximilian Guenther’s move to take the lead from Sacha Fenestraz just as the safety car was deployed due to Wehrlein’s crash left Fenestraz both perplexed and angry. However, Cassidy managed to jump both of them by delaying his attack mode activation by five laps, eventually taking the third position in the race. Although Cassidy was unable to hold off da Costa and Vergne, he still managed to secure third place.

Guenther and Fenestraz were involved in separate crashes, with Fenestraz crashing out on the final lap. Sebastien Buemi, who had fallen to the last position after colliding with Wehrlein, managed to recover and finish in the fifth position behind Rene Rast’s McLaren. Rast’s teammate Jake Hughes, who had impressed in earlier rounds, struggled on the Cape Town track, qualifying in the 13th position and finishing 10th.

Dan Ticktum, who had previously run with the leading group of drivers, finished in the sixth position for NIO 333. Stoffel Vandoorne, the reigning champion, had a less impressive performance, finishing in the seventh position.

Jaguar experienced another difficult day in the race. Mitch Evans, who had initially been in the fourth position, received a penalty for exceeding the power limit and finished in the 11th position. Meanwhile, Sam Bird was unable to start the race after a severe qualifying accident where he collided with Edoardo Mortara’s already crashed Maserati.

Although Maserati managed to repair Mortara’s car in time for him to start from the pit lane, he was forced to park his car on the first lap due to an issue. Additionally, Mahindra withdrew both their factory cars and customer Abt Cupra’s entries during qualifying due to safety concerns that were believed to be related to flexing suspension.

Here is a table summarizing the results of the Cape Town E-Prix race:

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Gap
1	António Félix da Costa	Porsche Team	32
2	Jean-Éric Vergne	DS Penske	32	0.281 sec
3	Nick Cassidy	Envision	32	1.808 sec
4	René Rast	McLaren	32	2.208 sec
5	Sébastien Buemi	Envision	32	2.656 sec
6	Dan Ticktum	NIO 333 Formula E Team	32	3.209 sec
7	Stoffel Vandoorne	DS Penske	32	4.210 sec
8	Norman Nato	Nissan	32	8.582 sec
9	André Lotterer	Andretti Autosport	32	8.755 sec
10	Jake Hughes	McLaren	32	10.475 sec
11	Mitch Evans	Jaguar Racing	32	14.183 sec
12	Sérgio Sette Câmara	NIO 333 Formula E Team	32	14.914 sec
13	Jake Dennis	Andretti Autosport	32	38.846 sec
14	Sacha Fenestraz	Nissan	32	47.613 sec
	Maximilian Günther	Maserati Racing	20	12 laps
	Edoardo Mortara	Maserati Racing	1	31 laps
	Pascal Wehrlein	Porsche Team	0