António Félix da Costa: “Jean-Eric was so fast”

António Felix da Costa will remain as the first driver to win an ePrix at the wheel of a car Gen2, which notably allows drivers to no longer change cars mid-race, due to the use of more efficient batteries supplied by McLaren Technologies.

The Portuguese of BMW and Andretti had started his race well by converting his pole position into first position at the first corner before building an initial advantage over the competition led by Sébastien Buemi (Nissan e.dams).

However, this was without counting on the very fast DS Techeetah of Jean-Eric Vergne and André Lotterer. The reigning French champion did not wait long to close his gap on leader António Félix da Costa before taking the advantage with just over 25′ to go.

We then think DS Techeetah is going for the double, but the team sees its two drivers penalized for an infringement of the use of regeneration on its car. Back in the lead, António Félix da Costa will manage his Attack modes as well as possible, as well as FanBoost to fend off the comeback of Jean-Eric Vergne, who finishes in the Portuguese's wheels.

“We still have a lot of work to do, admits the BMW i Andretti resident. Jean-Eric Vergne was incredibly fast, it was very close at the end, my heart rate skyrocketed. But in the end it was enough.

I've had a very difficult two years to be honest. You know how it goes in this world of motorsport, people forget quickly, and you are judged on your last race. We stayed united, we continued to work hard. I have to thank the team for that. »

This success, the second for António Félix da Costa in the discipline after Argentina in 2015, marks the first victory for BMW, now officially entered in Formula E, just like Nissan or DS. Enough to logically delight the German management.

“First race for our BMW i powertrain, first pole position, first victory: it’s incredible, proclaims Jens Marquardt, boss of BMW Motorsport. Many thanks to the entire development team at BMW i and BMW Motorsport in Munich.

There's no better way to end the 2018 motorsport year, and it would be hard to start a new project better. »

With his pole position and victory, António Félix da Costa leads the Drivers' standings with 28 points.

Discover the report of the Riyadh ePrix, produced by our special correspondent in Saudi Arabia, in issue 2196 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version, and from next Wednesday on newsstands.