Da Costa "hoped for miracle" after staying out with puncture in NYC Formula E race
Antonio Felix da Costa says he soldiered on with a slow puncture in the New York City E-Prix "hoping for a miracle", after contact with Andre Lotterer before rain hit.
After setting the fastest time in practice, da Costa was caught out by the onset of rain in Group B qualifying, which left him and DS Techeetah team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne unable to progress to the duels.
Da Costa explained that the team's misfortune snowballed into a difficult race, with the Portuguese driver losing positions off the line after starting on the less-used side of the grid - while Vergne was caught up in a lap one skirmish and pitched into a spin as the field compressed.
Although the Techeetah team told da Costa to stay out with his slow puncture, assuming rain could still keep the Season 6 champion in play, da Costa says that the better call would have been to retire.
"Basically I got hit by Andre a couple of laps before, and that initiated a slow puncture on my rear left," da Costa said.
"But the team advised me to stay out because the rain was coming, and you never know with red flags or whatever, so I did stay out.
"At some point midway through Turn 4, my rear left exploded, gave up completely and it threw me into the wall so yeah, to be honest, we were just trying and hoping for a miracle.
"In hindsight, now looking back, after the contact with Andre, we should have retired."
Antonio Felix da Costa, DS Techeetah, DS E-Tense FE21, Andre Lotterer, Tag Heuer Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric, Oliver Rowland, Mahindra Racing, Mahindra M7Electro
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Da Costa reckoned that, had the race continued under more regular conditions, he had saved enough energy to enact a late-race charge for points.
He added getting a better qualifying result for Sunday's race should give the team something positive to return home with, given its pace.
"It's very disappointing because we topped practice with quite some margin," said da Costa. "We had a really good car today and we kind of mis-strategised quali.
"It's easy to say now, but we went out too late and got caught out by the rain and then missed the duels by one position, by one-hundredth or whatever it was.
"Then that changes your day completely, I started 10th on the dirty side of the grid, lost two positions before I got to Turn 1 and then you're in the middle of this huge mess.
"I thought I was doing a good race with what I had, because I saved a lot of energy for the last 10 laps.
"I wasn't going to win the race, but I could have made up some positions and potentially scored some points.
"We just need to nail quali. Everyone is so strong now that you're not going to overtake 10 guys anymore to come back to the front so, if we just have a strong quali tomorrow [Sunday], we can at least go home with a nice result."
Mortara's Formula E title lead shrinks after New York City penalty
Frijns briefly thought New York Formula E win was his
Bottas: New CEO Seidl has a clear direction for Sauber in F1
Valtteri Bottas says he is impressed by Andreas Seidl's "clear direction" as he takes on the role of CEO of the Sauber Group, the company behind the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team.
Lotus F1 mechanic and Hawke cars creator David Lazenby dies aged 86
David Lazenby, a genial early 1960s Team Lotus Formula 1 mechanic during the Jim Clark era and who designed and created Hawke racing cars, has died aged 86.
FIA formally opens process for new F1 teams to join the grid
The FIA has formally opened the process for new teams to join the Formula 1 grid in the next few years.
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles.
The key factors behind Porsche's strong start to Formula E's new era
A low-key Valencia test left some quarters of Porsche's Formula E squad worried, but a 100% winning start for the German manufacturer's powertrain in 2022-23 underlines its early race day advantage. Porsche's key figures explain the strong start in Gen3, and why the work is only just beginning
How Wehrlein's Diriyah double reveals Formula E's form book shake-up
After Porsche-powered drivers locked out the top two positions to open Formula E's new Gen3 era in Mexico, the order was reversed in Diriyah. Ex-Formula 1 driver Pascal Wehrlein's factory car headed Jake Dennis's customer Andretti machine in both races under the Riyadh lights in a display that leaves little doubt as to which package currently has the edge
The first impressions of Formula E's brave new era
OPINION: Formula E kicked off its Gen3 era at Mexico City with keen anticipation - and anxiety - surrounding its new, more powerful cars. Here's how the new machinery got on in its first race, and what could be open to improvement later down the line
How Dennis dominated Formula E's new generation opener
Formula E’s Gen3 era kicked off with more unpredictability as Andretti’s Jake Dennis recovered from poor pre-season testing to dominate in Mexico. Here's how it played out and what the opener hints at what is to come in the new generation of the electric series
Is this a Formula E 'nearly man's' best chance yet at title glory?
With braking issues scuppering his championship hopes at a crucial moment in the 2021-22 Formula E season, Mitch Evans is more determined than ever heading into this year. He explains how he plans to make it third time lucky after two title near-misses
Can McLaren make a success of its foray into Formula E?
McLaren kept a two-time title-winning Formula E team alive after purchasing the Mercedes entry. But with new drivers and a switch to customer status, can it continue to succeed in its new orange era?
10 things we learned from Valencia Formula E testing
The prologue to the 2022/2023 Formula E season has concluded as the series gets set for the new Gen3 era. After almost four days of testing in Valencia this week, Autosport takes a look at the 10 major talking points that will dominate the build-up to the new campaign getting underway in January.
How Jaguar got its teeth into Formula E's Gen3 development race
With Mercedes gone and DS moving teams, Jaguar has a big opportunity at the start of Formula E's Gen3 era. The technical challenges in understanding the new car have been vast, with senior figures James Barclay and Phil Charles outlining to Autosport the pitfalls along the way
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.