Felix da Costa apologises to Cassidy for slashing his tyre at Formula E finale: "I played a horrible role"

Nick Cassidy was on course for the world championship in Sunday's Formula E race in London, until Antonio Felix da Costa slammed on the brakes in a duel of his own and slid into the Jaguar. Cassidy suffered a puncture and had to bury his title hopes. Formula E has now released a video showing an emotional Felix da Costa hugging his friend Cassidy.

"First of all, I have to apologise to Nick because I was the one who caused him that puncture," explains the Porsche driver. "The way racing is here at the moment, that can easily happen." He is alluding to the concertina effect, which occurs time and again in Formula E due to the energy-saving driving style and has already caused so many rear-end collisions.

"Nevertheless, I feel horrible because he was in a good position to (...) win the race with his two attack modes and so on," says Felix da Costa. In fact, Cassidy had already completed both attack modes and could probably have easily passed his title rivals Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein - because both had to drive through the attack zone twice more.

A sad moment for @Afelixdacosta after his incident with @NickCassidy_ took the Championship contender out of the running ?@Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/LejEynd2he

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 22, 2024

Instead, Cassidy dropped to the back of the field after the forced tyre change and eventually retired. A year ago, Cassidy lost out on a possible world title in London after a strong season through no fault of his own, and Sunday was no exception. "I know how difficult it is to win this championship, so I can only apologise - to him, his family and his team," says 2020 champion Felix da Costa.

Important support for Wehrlein on lap 31

With his braking mistake, he helped his Porsche team-mate Wehrlein to win the title, albeit unintentionally. Without it, the German might not have managed to beat Cassidy. In this respect, the scene has a certain taste, even if it was obviously not intentional.

But Felix da Costa also helped Wehrlein in another important situation: as the German drove through the attack zone on lap 31, he came back onto the track behind Felix da Costa and alongside Robin Frijns. In the next left-hand bend, the Portuguese closed the inside lane and braked Frijns down so that Wehrlein was able to pass both of them on the outside (see video below). This put Wehrlein directly behind Evans again - the position that later helped him to the title. Without Felix da Costa, Wehrlein might not have been able to catch Evans in time.

Evans and Wehrlein try a second time to take ATTACK MODE, with da Costa making room for Wehrlein upon rejoining! ?@Hankook_Sport #LondonEPrix pic.twitter.com/VnJ64R1Tvb

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) July 21, 2024

"I'm obviously happy that I was able to help Pascal with the attack modes, as I've often done this year," says Felix da Costa. "Today we did it again and I'm pleased that I was able to play my part in him winning (the title)."

"But at the same time, I played a terrible role in taking (the title) from Nick," said the 32-year-old.