Antonio Felix Da Costa has confirmed his step away from the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2024 season in a social media statement.

Former WEC LMP2 champion and JOTA Hypercar driver Da Costa will not return to the WEC next year.

The Portuguese driver has competed in the last five consecutive seasons, including this year when the JOTA Sport team made their step into the Hypercar class as a Porsche 963 customer team.

Having won the WEC LMP2 championship title in 2022, whereby he also won the Le Mans 24 Hours, Da Costa made the announcement via his Instagram social media.

“It’s with great sadness that I won’t be competing in the World Endurance Championship in 2024,” he said.

“I remember when I first started in endurance and thinking ’24-hour races?’.

“Today [it] is one of my biggest passions. Having had the pleasure to work with a amazing teams, brands, manufacturers, and especially teammates.

“Team JOTA, thank you so much for all that you did in the my life and career, best time I’ve had on a race track.

“This is not a goodbye, just a see-you-later.”

The 2019-20 Formula E champion made his WEC debut during the Super-Season of 2018-19 for BMW Team MTEK in GTE-Pro, which aligned with his responsibilities as a BMW factory driver with a BMW Andretti Formula E drive as well.

In the following season, he drove for JOTA Sport for the first time in their Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 and gained his first WEC win at the 4 Hours of Shanghai, one of five podium appearances during the 2019-20 campaign including a P2 (LMP2) finish at Le Mans.

With teammates Roberto Gonzalez and Will Stevens, the trio won Le Mans in LMP2 last year and rounded up the championship as class-title winners.

As a Porsche Formula E driver, his 2024 commitments are expected to sway towards the upcoming season after pre-season testing last week.

Meanwhile, JOTA has submitted a yet-to-be-approved application to run two drivers for two races in 2024, a year which will see just Hypercar and LMGT3 make up the full-season WEC package.

Da Costa’s final race before his 2024 WEC step-away will be this Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain in the JOTA Hypercar, after claiming an equal-best finish of sixth position at the previous Fuji race.

The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team have finally confirmed that Pascal Wehrlein and António Félix da Costa have been retained for the new season, with the side targeting to fight for the title once again.

Whilst it was unofficially known, Porsche confirming their 2023/24 driver pairing has completed the grid for the upcoming campaign, meaning the full class of season 10 is now known. Season 10 will mark Wehrlein’s fourth year with the German manufacturer, whilst it’ll be Da Costa’s second.

Wehrlein ended season nine in a somewhat disappointing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, despite having led the standings for three months. He was the strongest driver for the first half of the year, before falling off massively in the second half of season nine.

This ended his title hopes, whilst it also had a huge impact on Porsche’s dreams of winning the Constructors’ Championship, which they also led for the bulk of the season. Qualifying was Wehrlein’s downfall, with him having also driven too leniently at times. When he went on the attack at places like Diriyah and Jakarta, the German was on another level.

If he can show some aggression on a more consistent basis to get to the front of the field, then he’ll certainly be a contender for the season 10 championship, although the initial target is to enjoy a solid week of testing in Valencia.

“The test in Valencia marks the start of the new season,” said Wehrlein. “We’ve been busy with preparations for weeks, and we’ve already done stints in the simulator. I’m certain we’ve made further progress.

“Last season we learned a lot, which we can build on now. For Valencia, it’s important to be well prepared to be able to roll out our test programme without any issues and gain further insights. There are some minor changes for the new season. Valencia will certainly help us to fully understand them. Then, we can get stuck in.”

There is no doubting Da Costa’s talents, given that he won the Formula E title back in season six; however, he seemed to struggle settling into Porsche last year, something which impacted his title chances.

Da Costa showed great speed at times in the likes of Cape Town, where he secured a famous victory following a last-lap overtake on Jean-Éric Vergne. However, qualifying was also a huge issue for the Portuguese driver, who often had too much work to do.

With a year at Porsche under his belt though, the hope will be that he can push on in season 10. Even he recognises that “everything is easier” this season as he now knows the team and their Gen3 package, which he’s hoping to improve during pre-season testing next week.

“I’m looking forward to Valencia,” Da Costa noted. “The test is always cool because all of the teams and drivers are there. This gives us a chance to show where we stand against the competition, to see where we’re already strong and where we might need to make some improvements.

“The preparation for season 10 is going much better for me than last season’s preparation. I was new to the team last year and getting used to the car. This time everything is easier. I used the Formula E break to contest endurance races in the Porsche 963, spend time with my family and friends and prepare myself mentally and physically for the new season.”

After missing out on both Formula E championships in season nine, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team must solve their one-lap performance woes before season 10 gets underway, or face another year of having too much work to do.

Following the Diriyah double-header all the way back in January, it would’ve been almost impossible to imagine that Pascal Wehrlein and Porsche would finish fourth in their respected championships, given how dominant the pair looked in the opening rounds.

With Wehrlein having finished no lower than second in the opening three E-Prixs, the German was quickly labelled as the title favourite, whilst Porsche were seen as a likely runaway winner of the Constructors’ Championship. If it weren’t for their miserable qualifying performances, this probably would’ve been the case.

Wehrlein’s and António Félix da Costa’s campaigns were overshadowed somewhat by Porsche’s issues in the group stage of qualifying, which cost both drivers on several occasions.

The side’s disappointing performance over a single lap wasn’t actually too big of a concern in the opening rounds, mostly because the other powertrain suppliers were still figuring out how to extract the most from the Gen3 machinery.

Because of this, Wehrlein and Da Costa were able to qualify badly yet still finish towards the front, due to Porsche’s remarkable energy efficiency right from the get-go in Mexico City. This was seen in Da Costa’s case in Cape Town, where he stormed through the field to claim victory after starting in P13.

Seeing the Porsches cruise through the field with ease in the opening rounds was truly something to behold, given that they’d really been a sleeping giant in Formula E since they joined the series.

However, something changed from Berlin onwards, as neither Da Costa or Wehrlein were suddenly able to finish in the leading places after qualifying in the midfield.

The opening race in London was the only exception, as Da Costa initially finished second after recovering from P17 on the grid. He was later slapped with a three-minute time penalty which is going to the FIA Court of Appeal.

Once the likes of Jaguar and Stellantis had figured out how to be more efficient, Wehrlein and Da Costa struggled to make the same progress. The only way they could storm through the field was by using more energy, something which in itself took away their efficiency advantage, leaving them in no-man’s land.

Porsche all of a sudden were not able to score really big points, with Wehrlein having claimed just won victory – he won from third on the grid in Jakarta R1 – from Diriyah onwards. This seriously hurt the team in both championships, as they quickly went from being comfortable leaders, to desperate chasers.

Despite their best efforts, they just couldn’t get the car to work over one-lap, leaving both drivers with too much work to do. None of the Jaguar powered drivers had this issue, as the I-TYPE 6 was consistently quick and efficient, giving Jaguar TCS Racing and Envision Racing the best of both worlds, significantly helping Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.

Porsche’s powertrain was by no means bad and was arguably still the best package when it came to the races, as proven by Porsche customer team Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis, who claimed the title thanks to a record-breaking 11 podiums across the 16 rounds.

Dennis was the only Porsche-powered driver able to consistently progress into the duels, something he did 11 times. Of those 11 times Dennis featured in the duels, he progressed to the final on six occasions.

Porsche didn’t even make 11 duel appearances as a team, with Wehrlein managing just seven duel appearances, whilst Da Costa progressed from the group stage just twice. It resulted in several race finishes in the sixth to eighth range, something which saw Wehrlein and Porsche lose the lead of their respected championships as Dennis, Cassidy and Evans were all claiming regular podiums.

Qualifying is clearly what’s stopping the factory outfit from winning the championship, something they probably would’ve done in 2023 had they progressed to the duels more often. They’ll be encouraged by the fact that Dennis made so many duel appearances on his way to the title, proving that the Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 does have the capability to perform over one-lap.

Porsche’s big dilemma is that so little can be changed for next season, with new powertrains not allowed to be introduced until season 11 (2025). The only thing which they can do to try and unlock the same one-lap performance that Dennis boasted all season, is by making changes to their software.

This comes at a cost though, as by making changes to their software, they risk worsening their leading energy efficiency. It gives them something to experiment at least in pre-season testing at the end of next month, as qualifying is really the only area where they’re lacking significant performance to their rivals.

If the Stuttgart-based team can solve their qualifying woes before season 10 gets underway in January, then perhaps they’d even be seen as the title favourites.

A final decision over António Félix da Costa’s London E-Prix penalty will be made by the FIA International Court of Appeal, after FIA stewards rejected an initial appeal made by the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team.

It’s been almost a month since the 2022/23 Formula E season concluded, yet we’re no closer to knowing the exact final standings in both championships. This is due to an ongoing battle between Porsche and the FIA, following a controversial penalty which was given to Da Costa in the opening London race at the end of July.

Da Costa was slapped with an unfathomable three-minute time penalty because of his front right Hankook tyre being below the minimum legal pressure. The penalty demoted the Portuguese driver from second to P16, a result which has impacted the driver and the team.

Porsche and the season six Champion immediately argued that the tyre pressure was low due to hitting a piece of debris, rather than a deliberate attempt at cheating. On August 11, the stewards received notice that Porsche officially requested a review of the penalty.

As things stand, Da Costa is down as having finished ninth in the Drivers’ Championship; however, if the penalty is revoked then he’ll be promoted to fifth. It’s a similar story for Porsche, who will move ahead of their customer team Avalanche Andretti and into third in the Constructors’ Championship, if their appeal is successful.

The chances of their appeal being successful appear to be weakening, after their first opportunity to have it overturned was dismissed.

A virtual meeting took place on Tuesday, which included Porsche Team Principal Florian Modlinger, Porsche Team Manager Amiel Lindesay, FIA technical delegate Laurent Arnaud, FIA Head of Sporting Matters Pablo Marti and Andretti Team Principal Roger Griffiths. Griffiths was present due to the implications an overturn of Da Costa’s penalty would have on them.

According to e-formula.news, Porsche argued that they are responsible for the safety of their cars and insisted that Da Costa’s car was, in fact, safe at all times.

However, it was deemed by the stewards that the German manufacturer didn’t present any “significant and relevant” new information, with the team having known during the race that Da Costa’s front right tyre was below the legal minimum tyre pressure. As Porsche were aware, a defective sensor couldn’t be proven.

As the stewards felt that Porsche didn’t present any new information which wasn’t known at the time of the incident, their right of review was dismissed, meaning that for the time being the penalty stands.

The FIA stated: “There is no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The Petition is therefore dismissed.”

Porsche will now take their case to the Court of Appeal, with a hearing date yet to be announced. It means that the final outcome of both championships might not be officially known for several weeks or even months.

Following an incident in last Saturday’s 15th round of the 2022/23 Formula E World Championship, Porsche have confirmed that they are appealing a penalty given to António Félix da Costa.

In the penultimate round of the championship at the London E-Prix last Saturday, Da Costa was slapped with a huge three-minute time penalty. The penalty was dished out by the FIA after one of his tyres was below the minimum legal tyre pressure; however, this was due to a slow puncture the team had already informed the FIA’s technical delegate about.

Da Costa had a slow puncture in the closing laps at the ExCeL Centre after hitting one of the many pieces of debris scattered across the circuit, following a series of incidents.

During a red flag stoppage late in the race, Da Costa and Porsche reportedly informed the FIA about the slow puncture, but were given the all-clear to continue in the race with the same tyre. Moments later, it was confirmed that the season six Champion had an unbelievable time penalty.

The penalty demoted Da Costa from second to last, unsurprisingly. Da Costa was seething after the race and slammed the FIA’s “inconsistency”, before calling for “common sense” to prevail.

Da Costa had confirmed in the media pen after Saturday’s race that Porsche would appeal, something they had 96 hours to do. The German manufacturer have now officially appealed the penalty, meaning the case will go to the FIA’s Court of Appeal. The expectation is that a decision won’t be made for several weeks.

Should Da Costa’s second place finish get reinstated, then Porsche will move above customer team Avalanche Andretti in the Constructors’ Championship and into third spot.

Porsche’s statement Thursday morning read: “Today we can confirm that the official appeal against decision No. 10 was filed within the deadline.

“Antonio suffered a slow puncture due to debris on the track, which meant that the pressure from his front right tyre fell below the prescribed minimum. The damage occurred due to an external impact; it was not our fault. For us, this decision is incomprehensible and unacceptable. Our primary concern is a fair equal treatment in the spirit of the sport.

“Due to the ongoing proceedings, we will not make any further statements on this incident until a final decision is made by the ICA (International Court of Appeal).”

António Félix da Costa was left furious with the FIA last Saturday at the London E-Prix and slammed them as being “not good enough” for Formula E, following an unbelievable penalty.

Last weekend’s Formula E season finale at the ExCeL Centre was a chaotic affair, with the opening race of the weekend having been an incident-packed event. Two red flags were required last Saturday following a couple of big collisions, with one of the incidents having involved 14 cars.

A 14-car pile up occurred at the penultimate corner towards the end of the race, by which point Da Costa found himself in second behind Mitch Evans. The season six Champion was having an incredible race, having made up 15 places.

However, during the second red flag stoppage, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team discovered that Da Costa had a slow puncture, caused by debris on the circuit.

Da Costa informed an FIA technical delegate that he had a slow puncture but that his car was completely safe, with the delegate having allowed him to continue the race without changing the tyre.

Despite this, it was confirmed in the closing laps that Da Costa had been slapped with a mind-boggling three-minute time penalty, for a ‘technical infringement’. This technical infringement just so happened to be his slow puncture, much to the team’s and driver’s anger.

Da Costa insisted to the media after the race that he had a puncture and was by no means “trying to be illegal to find performance”, by running a low tyre pressure.

“I have a puncture, I’m not trying to play with the tyre pressure, I have a puncture,” Da Costa told the media, including Motorsport Week.

“I am actually nursing the car home. I’m not trying to be illegal to find performance, I actually lose performance. I have no air in my tyre.”

Unsurprisingly, the staggering time penalty demoted Da Costa to last, removing him from the podium, which would’ve been huge for Porsche. Porsche entered the weekend 14 points off the top of the Constructors’ Championship and were set to reduce their deficit considerably, ahead of the penalty being awarded.

Something which was very noticeable when the race finally restarted last Saturday following the second red flag, was that a number of cars rejoined the circuit without a front wing. Da Costa’s team-mate Pascal Wehrlein would’ve been one of them, but he was given a “direct command” by the FIA to be fitted with a new one.

Due to having changed front wings, Wehrlein was forced to restart the race from last, demoting him out of the points. Da Costa criticised the FIA for this and questioned where their “consistency” was, with the driver pleading for “common sense” to prevail.

“And they tell Pascal to go in the garage and change his front wing, like they mandated him to do it. That was a direct command,” revealed Da Costa.

“So why are some cars allowed to go out with broken cars and some others are not? So where is the consistency here? And they throw a race away like this. I just want consistency and common sense. You know what I mean?”

Da Costa confirmed on Saturday that Porsche were going to appeal, with the huge penalty having “completely compromised” the Stuttgart-based outfit’s title hopes. It took the FIA 15 hours to officially confirm Saturday’s classification, with Da Costa’s podium having not been reinstated. Porsche ended up finishing third in the standings following Sunday’s race.

“Yeah, we are appealing it,” Da Costa informed the media.

“We are appealing it because, yes, today, I don’t even really care about my podium. But we are playing. There’s a lot to play. We’re at the end of a championship here. It’s an important title for us, the teams’ title.

“And if we keep this result, we go into tomorrow, I don’t know, four, three, five points, I don’t know, away from the lead, everything to play for. And now it’s completely compromised for us.

“And I’m not going to the simulator for every race for three or four days, spending hundreds of days away from my family and all the hard work these engineers and mechanics have to come here and have races taken away from us like this. I’ve done more than 100 races in Formula E. I know when a car is safe to drive.

“I told him [FIA delegate] the car is safe. He let me go out. And now I get this penalty. Like, not even a chance to discuss it together. They just apply it to us. Yes, if you go by the rule, we are under and other cars have been disqualified in the past for being under.

“But we are not under by a bit because we’re playing with the gray areas with the legality limits. I have a puncture in my car because other drivers are driving around with broken front wings, and I actually been hit on my front right tyre. It’s just super disappointing.”

Da Costa went as far as stating on Saturday that the stewards and technical delegates are “not good enough” to regulate Formula E, with the 31-year-old believing that they lack the “technical expertise”.

“I don’t believe they have the technical expertise enough to regulate a World Championship like us with all these manufacturers and drivers here, they are not good enough,” Da Costa insisted.

The Porsche driver will likely hear from the FIA following his comments about the handling of the situation, as he shared his frustration in a series of tweets as well.

Da Costa used Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the 2020 British Grand Prix as an example of inconsistency amongst the FIA, as the Mercedes driver won the race despite having a completely delaminated tyre. Hamilton wasn’t penalised.

Antonio Felix da Costa of the #38 JOTA Porsche 963 has reflected upon the missed potential for a stronger 6 Hours of Monza, regarding their reliability woes.

The #38 JOTA were one of four teams who led the fourth round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship after just one-and-a-half hours.

Da Costa started the Porsche from ninth position overall and seized the opportunity to overtake the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Sebastien Buemi and the #51 Ferrari 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi after their contact at Turn 1.

From sixth place, Da Costa showed competitive pace relative to the Hypercar front-runners, but was forced to make an unscheduled pitstop due to electronic reliability troubles.

The Portuguese driver said: “We started the race on a strong note with clever strategic decisions, and even held the lead for a while. 

“But then, we encountered software problems and had to make an extra stop to change the steering wheel and reboot everything.

“That cost us a lap and an additional drive-through penalty because the speed limiter wasn’t working properly.”

At roughly the halfway point, Da Costa pitted for an emergency service stop and was unable to change the wheel during a safety car period, as you can only take five seconds of fuel when under safety car.

Upon leaving the pitlane, the #38 Porsche 963 stopped at the first chicane before performing a power cycle to continue driving.

After the safety car period had ended, they pitted again for a full-service stop where they were able to change the steering wheel.

He consolidated: “Still, we took the opportunity to turn a lot of laps and get to know the Porsche 963 and the race tyres a bit better.”

Combined with the efforts of his teammates Yifei Ye and Will Stevens, they finished in ninth place, two laps down on the winning #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

They remain optimistic for the 6 Hours of Fuji on 10 September, since stepping up from the prior Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 package only two races ago at Spa-Francorchamps, finishing in sixth position.

Antonio Felix Da Costa wins the Cape Town E-Prix in frenetic style, joined on the podium by Jean-Eric Vergne and Nick Cassidy.

It marked another race won from the back for Porsche as they pick up their third race win of the season in just five rounds.

The field was hugely reduced with all four Mahindra-powered cars and Sam Bird not taking the start due to various issues.

The cars made it through the first corner cleanly, Sacha Fenestraz getting a fantastic start from pole position.

However, once it got to turn 10 Pascal Wehrlein made contact with the back of Sebastian Buemi, sending them both into the runoff. The Swiss driver got going again while championship leader Wehrlein was forced to retire with a bent steering column.

After starting from the pitlane, Edoardo Mortara was also forced to retire, pulling into the run-off during the safety car period.

Amongst the chaos of race control calls, Maximillian Gunther got ahead of pole man Sacha Fenestraz during the Full Course Yellow Call.

Mitch Evans received a drive-through penalty in his Jaguar for overconsumption which he took on lap 10, pushing him to the back of the pack.

Nick Cassidy inherited the lead of the race when Gunther went for attack from the lead, with the German driver dropping to third in his Maserati.

Jake Hughes dropped to tenth on lap 15 after locking up into the corner and just narrowly avoiding the wall.

Jake Dennis, who would have wanted to capitalise on his championship rival crashing out received a drive-through penalty for not respecting tire pressure minimums.

The Maserati of Gunther was investigated for his overtake on Fenestraz before the first full course yellow. Lotterer was also investigated for a safety car infringement, later receiving a 5-second time penalty.

Gunther ended up hitting the wall at turn seven, an area of the track that has plagued many and he crashed out from podium contention.

Race control called another Full Course Yellow to retrieve the car in another double DNF for Maserati.

Antonio Felix da Costa took the lead from Cassidy in heroic fashion sending it to the outside of the Envision.

Almost straight after Jean-Eric Vergne also got Cassidy demoting the Kiwi to third on the road.

As Da Costa tried to clear his former teammate Vergne and take attack mode he missed one of the activation loops and failed to get the additional power. When he went for attack mode once again, he lost the lead to Vergne.

Da Costa got the lead back off of Vergne in the end, sending it through in heroic fashion in one of the high-speed bumpy sections of the track.

Fenestraz made a heroic move on Cassidy through the chicane at turn five taking the final podium position, however, Cassidy tried it on Fenestraz again through the final corner.

After a busy start to the season, Formula E now takes a month break before the next race in Sao Paulo.

The Porsche Formula E Team line-up was revealed earlier this morning, with an announcement that confirmed that Da Costa will replace André Lotterer for Season 9.

There were rumours about a possible move to Porsche for Antonio Felix Da Costa – further consolidated by the fact that his current WEC team, Jota, will become a Porsche hypercar customer next year. 

The Portuguese driver has been a fixture in Formula E since Season 1, where he started his journey in the all-electric series driving for Team Auguri in 2014. He won the Drivers’ title in Season 6, his first with DS Techeetah and as Jean-Eric Vergne’s teammate.

Da Costa was first selected to join the Red Bull Junior Team to replace Lewis Williamson in Formula Renault 3.5, and was a test driver for the main team in Formula 1. His successes outside of his Formula E career include a win at the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans and two at the legendary Macau Grand Prix (in 2012 and 2016).

“I’m really looking forward to cracking on and winning races for this team,” da Costa said.“ I’ve been beaten by a Porsche many times in my career, and 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.”

Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, praised the skills the Portuguese drivers displayed – and not only in Formula E.

“I’m delighted that António is coming on board,” he said. “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.”

While Pascal Wehrlein has been confirmed at Porsche next season, Lotterer has yet to reveal his plans for Season 9.

Antonio Felix da Costa dominated the second New York E-Prix of the weekend, as he lead almost every moment of the race.

Da Costa inherited pole position earlier in the day after Nick Cassidy was penalised for changing parts on his car.

The Portuguese driver held the lead as the lights went out, with Andre Lotterer in third place jumping the start, before braking and driving away again.

Da Costa dropped back to second place with just over 30 minutes remaining in the race, as he opted to take his sole Attack Mode of the race. Vandoorne, who took Attack Mode one lap later, moved to the front momentarily.

Vandoorne dropped back to third behind Alexander Sims after taking Attack Mode, but produced a late lunge on the Mahindra driver to take second place.

The former McLaren F1 driver hunted da Costa, but couldn’t move ahead of the DS Techeetah driver for the lead.

Mitch Evans was third, taking the final spot on the podium after overtaking Sims in the final stages of the race.

However, Evans was lucky to see the chequered flag at all, as he had a sizeable moment while overtaking Nyck de Vries during the race. After running over a bump, the car flew sideways – but Evans managed to secure the car and continue on his way.

Sims crossed the line in fourth, while Sam Bird produced an astonishing recovery drive to take fifth after starting from 16th on the grid.

Robin Frijns was sixth, ahead of de Vries who had a similar out-of-control moment to Evans when he attempted to move ahead of Sims.

Jake Dennis was eighth, with Lotterer recovering to ninth after his opening lap mishap.

Having started from the back row after failing to set a qualifying lap, Edoardo Mortara rounded out the top 10.

Formula E will return in two weeks’ time for another double-header event in London.