Antonio Felix da Costa has signed with Porsche ahead of the 2023 Formula E season, switching from DS Techeetah to replace Andre Lotterer at the works outfit.
The Season 6 champion only managed one win in 2022 and will partner Pascal Wehrlein at Porsche for the new Gen3 era of Formula E, which gets underway in Mexico City in January.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Da Costa said. “I’m really looking forward to cracking on and winning races for this team, I’ve been beaten by a Porsche many times in my career, not only in Formula E so I know that Porsche does everything to win.
“It’s in the brand’s DNA. I share the same ambition and can hardly wait to bond with the team and work together to ensure a successful start to the Gen3 era.”
Follow the money?
The Race reported in March that Da Costa was in talks with Porsche, and it’s been made official just a day after the season finale in Seoul.
They were after Mitch Evans for 2022 but after he stayed at Jaguar, Lotterer held down the seat for 2022, before Da Costa’s arrival.
The Portuguese driver also negotiated with DS Techeetah to stay with the team that took him to the pinnacle of the sport in 2021, and was reportedly in talks with Venturi before they became Maserati for 2023.
However, it’s thought Porsche’s offer was the largest on the table and they’ll now take aim at a first world championship for the Stuttgart team.
“I’m delighted that Antonio is coming on board,” said Vice President Porsche Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach. “He has an incredible skill set as a racing driver and has demonstrated many times that he’s a winner, not only in Formula E.
“We hold him in high regard as a driver and on his own merits as a person. He’s a positive guy who is a great fit for us and the Porsche Motorsport family. I’m confident that we’ll fight for victories and titles together for years to come.”
Porsche will be Da Costa’s fourth team, after he made his debut at Team Aguri in the inaugural FE season.
He switched to Andretti after two seasons, and then to DS Techeetah where he won the championship in his first campaign with the team.
In Season 8 he suffered a pointless opening round in Diriyah and didn’t even get on the podium until the second half of the season.
However, he managed to win round 12 in New York and finished eighth, ahead of reigning champion Nyck de Vries though four places and 22 points behind teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.
