Q&A In The Paddock: António Félix da Costa

By Rosa Elena Torres | We catch up with António Félix da Costa, who’s racing for Team MS Amlin Andretti and developing the new WEC car for BMW for a short interview about Formula E and Formula 1.

What motivated you to start racing in Formula E rather than in other type of traditional racing series?

Formula E was a totally new thing in motorsport, I was curious and I think the world needs this series. I’m not going to lie, the first time it was so strange to drive the car but once you get used to it, it’s absolutely awesome!

Formula E has a lot of great drivers and nice locations to drive and we are helping the world by promoting and driving these electric cars.

You have raced in other series too. How would you compare Formula E to them?

It’s totally different: you have to save energy every lap to make it to the end of the race. That provides some interesting racing and different strategies between drivers and teams.

How do you see Formula 1 then? Has its image changed for you over the years?

Formula 1 is Formula 1, there’s no way around it. The Formula 1 cars were losing a bit of its magic when they went smaller in 2009, then they lost the V8 engines, but this season, with the new cars, it’s fantastic again.

Learn how to save energy and drive in an efficient way! But, obviously, be quick about it.

António Félix da Costa

Formula E was a completely new step in high-end racing. Do you believe other series such as DTM should also make drastic changes and maybe go electric?

Formula E is ahead of its time so far. I think it will take more time to have other electric championships.

So what are you most excited about Formula E in the near future?

I’m mostly excited about the unknown. How big can we be? How strong will we be in the motorsport world?
I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

If you had to give advice for someone thinking about starting a career in Formula E, what would your advice be now?

Be patient in racing, races are long and a lot can happen. Learn how to save energy and drive in an efficient way! But, obviously, be quick about it.