Formula E

FORMULA E champion Antonio Felix Da Costa is hungrier than ever before as he looks to defend his crown.
Next season will be Formula E’s first season as an official FIA World Championship – bringing the all-electric series up a gear.

Antonio Felix Da Costa is the reigning FE champion

Da Costa joined serial-winners Techeetah last season and went on to win his first ever FE title in his debut season with the Paris-based team.
But in doing so he prevented his teammate and ex-F1 star Jean-Eric Vergne from winning a hat-trick of titles after Vergne’s back-to-back championships.
Vergne and Da Costa will be flat out again next season to ensure Techeetah win their third consecutive title as the tension between the two hots up.
Da Costa said: “This team is a champion’s making machine.

“The hard work they put in, how much they want to win, how clever all these guys are.
“Hopefully we have the recipe to do it again next season.
“I am really looking forward to kicking off season seven as a champion which has given me extra motivation.
“I feel confident and I feel better in this team than I did a year ago.”

Techeetah have won back to back constructors champions
Da Costa hit the ground running at testing, after finishing in the top three of the timesheets on the first two days in Valencia.
The Portuguese driver will be one of four champions on the grid next season, joining Vergne, Audi’s Lucas Di Grassi and ex-F1 star Sebastian Buemi.
After being crowned champion in Berlin, after an intense run of six races in just nine days, Da Costa received a hero’s welcome at Lisbon Airport.

The President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also gave Da Costa, the Order of Merit, one of the country’s most recognised honours.
He added: “The President hosted me in the palace, which I was not expecting at all, so for sure it was a very proud moment.
“Going back to Portugal after winning the championship was unbelievable, the people really get behind their athletes, but the highlight was definitely winning the Order of Merit.”

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BRITISH driver Alexander Sims will be out to fly the flag for Indian outfit Mahindra.
The former BMW man is looking forward to building the team to glory as he aims to be with the team long-term.

Alex Sims is ready for a long-term journey at MahindraCredit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.

Mahindra showed their ambition to the all-electric paddock by being the first team to commit to the next Gen3 era, which is set to commence in 2022.
Mahindra and their passionate team principle Dilbagh Gill have been involved in FE since the first ever race in 2014.
Sims said: “The commitment that Mahindra and the team owner Dilbagh has shown is going to have a positive effect throughout the whole organisation.
“It’s a signal of intent that Mahindra is here to stay for the foreseeable future and it’s something that really can give the personnel in the team a real lift.

“Because there’s security there, a nice long journey ahead and it just increases that reason to put the work in to invest the time and effort because you’re sure that it’s not just going to end in a couple of years.
“It’s a very nice feeling to have.”

Sims will be joined by fellow Brit Alex LynnCredit: Represented by ZUMA Press, Inc.
Sims, who will race alongside fellow Brit Alex Lynn, is looking to squeeze everything he can out of the car ahead of next season.
He lives close to the team’s factory in Banbury and is looking forward to doing late nights in the garage to work with his engineers.

Sims says this played a part in him switching from BMW, after spending two years with the German giants.
He said: “Certainly from my side I’m feeling very happy with the team and I’m a hundred per cent motivated to work hard to continue to improve things.

“It’s where I’m investing my time and efforts and so I’m keen to see the fruits of that and stay here for a long time.
“From my point of view I’m in this for the long run. 
“The fact that the factory isn’t too far from my home made me more confident that I’d be able to work more, work harder whilst also being able to be home more.
“This is a growing personal factor; with three children I don’t want to miss all of their lives if I can.
“So the prospect of being able to be home for more bedtimes but still be able to do more days in the factory and on the simulator than I’ve done before was quite appealing.
“The vision that Dilbagh spoke about was bringing the team back to winning ways.”

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ANTONIO FELIX DA COSTA broke down in tears as he was crowned the Formula E champion in Berlin.
Da Costa dominated his rivals on the restart to claim his first FE title while his team Techeetah also won the constructors’ title.

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Portuguese star Antonio Felix Da Costa admits he had come ‘so close’ to quitting before finally winning the title

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Antonio Felix Da Costa always looked comfortable as he secured the crown with second place in Germany

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Ex-BMW driver Da Costa joined Techeetah at the start of the season, building towards his title success with three straight victories
Da Costa cruised to second place and showed raw emotion as he saw his family celebrating live on a big screen back in Portugal.
The Portuguese star said: “I have no words. Just the bad times come to my mind because I’ve come so close to giving up sometimes. 
“But thanks to the people around me I never did. 
“But more than that, thanks to the guys who knew what I could do, even when I was finishing nowhere and they still brought me back.

“Thanks to Jean-Eric Vergne who is a hard bone to chew but he pushed me all the way, he helped me out a lot.
“I have no words, I’m just so happy.” 

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Techeetah locked out the front row and cruised to a one-two victory with former two-time champion Vergne winning his first race of the season.
Da Costa joined Techeetah at the start of the season from BMW and charged to the title with three wins on the bounce.

The Portuguese has amounted 158 points and leads second place by 80 points with two races remaining.  More

TWO-TIME reigning Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne’s wait for a win this season continues after he lost the lead in the dying moments in Berlin.
BMW youngster Max Gunther waited behind Vergne throughout the race before pouncing late on to claim victory in Berlin.

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Two-time champ Jean-Eric Vergne’s last win came in June 2019 in Switzerland
Vergne’s frustration continued after seeing his team-mate Antonio Felix Da Costa dominate the first two races in Berlin and edge closer to winning the title.
Vergne, who dropped from first to third, said: “I’m quite happy to get a podium.
“I don’t know, I need to investigate what happened here.
“I am not sure what happened, I lost a lot of energy in attack mode and it seems as though my regen pedal was not working properly.

“I was fighting with Gunther for the lead but then when I saw Robin Frijns coming, I thought it was useless to fight him, I would have lost the podium.”

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Max Gunther won his second race of the season

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Meanwhile, Gunther was thrilled to take his second win of the season and win his home race in Germany. 
Gunther said: “I am so incredibly happy for everybody to win this home race in Berlin.
Virgin’s Frijns took second place to claim his first podium of the season, while title-race leader Da Costa climbed from ninth to fourth.

Da Costa has an enormous 70-point lead in the drivers’ standings with just three races remaining.

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ANTONIO FELIX DA COSTA has driven like a man possessed since Formula E’s return after 158 days out.
Da Costa comfortably won the first two races since the restart and now has a whopping 68-point lead in the drivers’ championship.

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Antonio Felix Da Costa boasts a 68-point lead in the title-race
And with just four races remaining he seems nailed on to win his first ever FE title with the season coming to a close in Berlin on August 13.
The Techeetah driver told SunSport how he managed to go up a gear during lockdown.
He said: “I came into Berlin and I just wanted to make sure that if we don’t win it [the title], I would never blame myself for not being the best version of me.
“I trained a lot, I recovered – I am healthier than I was before the lockdown.

“For four or five years now I have been doing a double or triple motorsport programme between FE, being an F1 reserve driver, DTM and WEC.
“It’s 150 flights a year and my body needed a break. 
“So in a way these three months really helped me to reset, recover, get rid of pains I’ve had here and there.
“I’ve trained and I started working with a mental coach as well, so I wanted to make sure I ticked every box. 

“And if we did not win in the end, I did not want to blame myself for not training.”
The next double header for Da Costa is on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, where he will hope to extend his lead in the title race.

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Antonio Felix da Costa made it back-to-back wins on Formula E’s return

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But Da Costa is aware his rivals will close the gap on him in the remaining races in Berlin.
He added: “It’s all going to come down to have clean days and making no mistakes.
“I am for sure expecting everyone to get closer and closer but that is why it was so important to get these two wins in the bag.”

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ANTONIO FELIX DA COSTA strengthened his grip on the Formula E title after winning two races in as many days in Berlin. 
Da Costa became the second driver to win both races in a FE double header, as he made it three wins on the bounce.

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Antonio Felix Da Costa wins both races as part of first double header in Berlin
The Techeetah driver extended his lead in the title race to 68 points with four races remaining, with the season ending on August 13.
Da Costa said: “It was so hard, [Sebastien] Buemi kept me honest the whole race.
“Yesterday we were a bit quicker, but there was never a moment there where I had to keep looking in my wing mirrors and the engineers kept me under control.”
Ex-F1 driver Buemi finished second ahead of fellow former FE champion Lucas Di Grassi – who secured his second podium of the season for Audi.

Da Costa’s title rivals Mitch Evans and Alex Sims both failed to score points while Stoffel Vandoorne finished fifth.
Da Costa’s team-mate and reigning two-time FE champion Jean-Eric Vergne has had a nightmare return since FE’s restart.
Vergne failed to finish the opening race in Berlin before finishing tenth the following day.
The all-electric series will have one day off before another double header at the historic Tempelhof Airport in Berlin this weekend. 

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The circuit will remain the same, but direction of the race will be reversed and Da Costa expects his rivals to catch up to him on Saturday.
He added: “I think day by day everyone’s going to get closer and closer. 
“We saw that already today, so I’m expecting it to be tough in the next races.”

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FORMULA E chairman and co-founder Alejandro Agag will miss the final six races of the season in Berlin after testing positive for Covid-19. 
Agag was forced to miss his first ever FE race after announcing he had contracted Covid-19 on social media.

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Alejandro Agag will miss the season finale after contracting Covid-19Credit: EPA
Agag’s announcement came just days after Mahindra team principal Dilbagh Gill revealed he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Agag said: “Congratulations [Da Costa] for a great win in Berlin race one. 
“So sad to miss my first Formula E race ever, that I had to watch from my room in Berlin.
 “I tested positive for COVID on arrival and I am following all the excellent protocols we have in place to keep everyone safe.

 “Missing everyone in the Paddock!”

FE have conducted 1,423 tests in Berlin ahead of their season showdown – with Agag and Gill being the only two confirmed positive tests so far.
The all-electric series have cut down their personnel on site from roughly 5000 people down to just 1000 to fulfill legal requirements in Germany. 
Each team is only allowed to have 21 members at the track, which includes the two drivers and team principal. All staff members will be tested at the track every five to seven days.

FE have five more races to come with the season coming to a close on August 13.

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