António Félix da Costa has revealed a key problem he believes is hurting his Formula E drivers’ title chances: it has been a season of win or bust.
The Season 6 champion has made an excellent start to life at Jaguar following his exit from Porsche, winning back-to-back races in Jeddah and Madrid.
Da Costa has been one of the strongest drivers, particularly over one lap, and has yet to qualify outside the top 10 ahead of the Monaco E-Prix.
However, according to the Portuguese driver, his race results have been too inconsistent, something which must change to support his bid to become a two-time world champion.
It is perhaps a harsh self-assessment from the Jaguar driver, but one with a degree of truth. From the eight completed rounds, da Costa’s two victories are his only podium appearances.
The opening race of the Jeddah double-header in February, where he finished fifth, remains his only other top-five finish of the season, with da Costa believing he needs more consistent points-scoring results — particularly when not on the podium — to remain in contention for the crown.
Addressing the highs of Jeddah and Madrid, to then the low of Berlin, da Costa told ApexF1: “Yeah, I mean, that’s just the sport we’re in. The rollercoaster of emotions is huge, and you can go from feeling like the Lion King to feeling like Timon, you know. So yeah, but I love it.
“You just have to be so adaptable to your own thoughts and feelings. And the good thing is that even though in Berlin we came away with only a single point, we were so fast over one lap. We topped a couple of sessions, so that helps me to relax.
“But I also have the feeling that we either win or we don’t score, and that’s not the way to win a championship.
“I’m very critical of myself, and even though I think in Berlin race one there were a few small things that came together and really hindered us from getting a good result, I think a podium was definitely on the cards.
“And then in race two, I got hit from behind. But I always try to look at it as: can I do something differently? Can I do something better? So yeah, I’m just self-critical. And bottom line, we need those P5s, P6s and P7s, and then when the wins come, we’ll take them. But we just need to score points.”
