Antonio Felix da Costa says he doesn’t understand what the protesters at the Berlin E-Prix were trying to achieve, after the second race in Germany was delayed.
As the cars did their mandatory burnout from the dummy grid to their starting positions, two men and two women jumped onto the track, with one allegedly trying to glue themselves to the medical car.
The race was delayed by approximately seven minutes, before being completed without further incident as Nick Cassidy won the E-Prix.
“I really don’t understand what they are trying to accomplish because we are fighting exactly for the same thing,” Da Costa exclusively told Total-Motorsport.com.
“We are by far the most ecological and sustainable championship that ever existed in motorsports.
“We are showing everyone that electric cars are no longer boring. They are faster, cool, they are sexy, they are efficient. So I really don’t get what they’re trying to prove here.”
Asked about what went through his mind when he saw the activists, one of who had a t-shirt which said “stop the fossil fuel madness”, Da Costa answered: “Get out of the way I want to race!
“I could see the fans cheering once they got taken off the track. So we are here to produce a show, we do it in a sustainable way.”
His Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein was also surprised by the incident, which is the latest in Europe by fossil fuel protesters.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this,” said Wehrlein. “I live in a very small village where there’s not a lot of people and usually I’m not seeing a lot of people when I’m home.
“The team was in contact with me and we were just waiting to go.”
Jaguar driver Mitch Evans added: “I saw them in my mirrors and for me I just think do it somewhere else. It seems a bit conflicting. And when the lights went out I didn’t think of it.”
