Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Da Costa: No fear taking on Vergne in his Techeetah FE "living room"

Antonio Felix da Costa says he is not daunted by the prospect of taking on reigning Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne in his "living room" at DS Techeetah

Da Costa joined DS Techeetah at the beginning of the month, once his gardening leave period from previous employer BMW is over.

By signing with DS Techeetah, da Costa is joining a team where Vergne has raced for the last three FE seasons and won the last two drivers' championships.

"Everyone asks me 'aren't you afraid to go and team up with JEV and this and that?', but I'm not afraid - I think it's great for me," da Costa told Autosport.

"He's French, I'm going into a French manufacturer with a French driver that has just won the championship.

"So I'm kind of going right into the middle of his home - his living room."

Da Costa also explained that his decision to leave BMW where he had been a factory driver for the last six years since leaving the Red Bull junior programme - was in part motivated by his desire to "get out of my comfort zone and go chasing".

"But it's not like I looked to get out - far from that," he said.

"When you have a winning team and I feel like I'm in a part of my career where I'm not super young - I'm not old, but I'm not super young - if there is a time to try and have a big change for something that I believe can give me more opportunities to win, it's now.

"I don't want to do that at 30 something, I don't want to do that at nearly 40.

"I think it's now, I just turned 28, so it's the time to take a small risk and to go for a change to try something new."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Venturi Formula E team opts to become Mercedes powertrain customer
Next article Mahindra reveals 2019/20 Formula E line-up and new powertrain deal

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe