Antonio Felix da Costa says he and the Tag Heuer Porsche team have the ingredients to win FIA Season 11 Formula E World Championship.

The experienced Portuguese driver enters the new season off the back of a renaissance in Season 10, winning four races despite nearly losing his seat.

Da Costa told Motorsport Week This year’s push for the title won by teammate Pascal Wehrlein will result in consistency and not resting on laurels for the team.

“I think sometimes, when you’ve had success like Pascal and his team have, like winning a championship, sometimes it’s a natural instinct to take your foot off the gas pedal a little bit and it’s pretty common for people to be nice and relaxed and that’s not the case at all,” he said.

“They’re pushing harder than ever, so that’s been great to see. It’s been a huge effort and a lot of work behind the scenes to get this (GEN3) Evo car, you know, down to the speed and then for us to make sure we’re happy with it and we are and for me too Last year was a very frustrating year because it was the year I won the championship. I felt like I accomplished more but you know we need to clean up some things on my end.

“He couldn’t have meant that I was on the podium five times last year and they were all wins (he adds the harsh disqualification at Misano as a bonus). It’s either I win or I don’t get any points, you know that’s not the way to win a championship and we’re just going to pick things up and finish fifth when we have to.” We have to finish fourth and seventh and win the races we can and I think that’s the way to win this championship.

“We all know how to do it and we’ve learned a lot of lessons; we’ve had a lot of learning in the last year as a person, as an athlete, as a team player, and I know we have the wherewithal to make it happen and deliver.” Now we will have a good season together.”

‘They say I drive better when I’m angry’

The aforementioned renaissance came from the dramatic story that emerged during the seven-week break after São Paulo, when it was revealed that Porsche had been testing Nico Müller as a potential replacement for da Costa.

His reaction was one of defiance; He went out and proved everyone wrong at Misano and followed it up with four wins. it was Berlin was allowed to remain in China and both races were allowed to remain in Portland.

Costa before last season’s Monaco E-Prix I told MW Around this time, he said his mindset changed, saying: “Whenever I had a bad day, I was more concerned with what my bosses thought, what my sponsors thought, and I actually changed that a bit and thought ‘let’s race for myself’ and if I do it well, everyone will win as a result.” ‘.

He now says that he will continue on his way, albeit with the awareness of maintaining the respect that comes with driving for a name like Porsche.

“A very good friend of mine who keeps track of everything said to me the other day: ‘I know you don’t like it, but you perform better when you’re angry.’

“You know me a little bit and I hate being angry and I don’t want it to be like that but yeah, I just have to worry about myself, I need to put myself first sometimes and I don’t worry too much about what people will think or say.

“But you also know that you’re racing for a big brand that has rules that have to be respected, that have rules that have to be followed, and I’m not saying I’m an outlaw or anything, but it’s about finding the right balance between those things, and I think what happened last year really united us.

“I think everybody’s a lot more prepared for a bad day now. You know, I was in a very dark hole last year, so if I can come back from that, if there’s a bad day this year and it happens – everybody here 100% gets these – we’re going to react to them in a much better way.” way.”

New tires are ‘nutcrackers’

Our chat with Da Costa took place during the Jarama test week, and one of the biggest takeaways from the four-day run was literally getting to grips with the new Hankook tyres.

“I think our biggest challenge, in a good way, is understanding tires; they’re not simple at all,” Da Costa said.

“I mean, I don’t think we’ve ever had a simple tire in Formula E, but this is a real nutcracker, it’s like it’s hard to understand.”

“He has various behaviors throughout his life. It’s incredible when it’s new, then you get extreme understeer, then we’re just trying to figure it out and figure out what compensations we have to make for the tire life we’re encountering.

“But I also think we put a lot more pressure on the tires on the test day, where we put a lot more mileage on it than we would on the race weekend, so we have to be a bit smart about how we work with it, and doing mock racing is very useful for that.

Pit Boost ‘brings great dynamics’

With just a few weeks left until Season 11, the implementation of the long-gestating Attack Charge (now called Pit Boost) idea is nearing completion.

MW hears that there is a difference of opinion among drivers and teams on whether it is beneficial to include this in the sporting regulations, but da Costa is in favor of the issue.

“I think it would be great for sports,” he says. “It’s like he brings a great dynamic to the race and a variable that is difficult to control as a team.

“You know today (on the third test day) I was the last car to box, everyone in the front group had boxed.

“I was literally alone on the track, it felt like I was in a free practice session and then you do a few laps like that, then you box out and you come back with the huge mass of cars, so I think that’s what it was.” It brings a great dynamic to the race and the fans, so I’m more than ready for it.

” I think it makes absolute sense in terms of the message we want to convey to the world of technology and electric mobility. You know, there’s this stigma that if I buy an electric car, I’ll have to stop for an hour. That’s no longer the case, and you can add 600 kilowatts of fast charging speed to existing technology, charging a car in five minutes.

“I mean, it has to work and we can’t have races that are ruined and we can’t have wins taken away from someone because they weren’t paid or the car broke down, so I think that’s the priority.” .

“I don’t know, it’s not my place to tell them what they should do, but maybe we can find a middle ground somewhere and try to stress the batteries less by charging them at slower speeds or something, but I’m totally up for it, yeah.”