Formula E: Antonio Felix da Costa disqualified! Oliver Rowland inherits race win on Saturday

Bad news for Porsche around five hours after the end of the race: Antonio Felix da Costa was subsequently disqualified and loses his victory at the Misano E-Prix. British driver Oliver Rowland inherits his win - his second in Formula E and the first ever win for Nissan in the Gen3 era! The reason is a throttle spring that does not comply with the rules and comes from the Gen2 car!

"TAG Heuer Porsche's Antonio Felix da Costa has been disqualified from the Misano E-Prix round 6 as his throttle damper spring was not found in conformity with the regulations," read a simple tweet on the official Formula E X account. "Nissan's Oliver Rowland inherits the race win."

TAG Heuer Porsche's António Félix da Costa has been disqualified from the Misano E-Prix Round 6 as his throttle damper spring was not found in conformity with the regulations.

Nissan's Oliver Rowland inherits the race win. #MisanoEPrix pic.twitter.com/EV31dunsBk

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 13, 2024

The full decision of the FIA

The FIA has announced the following. "The Team Manager and the representative of the manufacturer explained that since the beginning of Season 9, they have not changed the Throttle Damper Spring. The Team Manager accepted that the sealed part, as shown in the attachment of the Technical Report 13 was mounted in Car 13 and was sealed in the presence of the Chief Mechanic of the team."

"The Team Manager stated also that on the Spark list (pedals) the sealed part is not listed. He explained that normally, changes of the Spark catalogue are highlighted so everybody can see the changes, but not removals."

"The FIA Technical Delegate confirmed this procedure. The representatives of Spark confirmed that this part was listed on the part list of the Gen2 cars, but not on the current Gen3 car. They also confirmed that the removal of parts from that catalogue are not highlighted nor canceled."

"The competitor is responsible for the conformity of the car and even if there is no performance advantage the car has to comply with the Regulations (Article 1.3.3 of the International Sporting Code). Due to this result the car has to be disqualified from the race and the next cars move up in the classification."

Porsche lodges appeal, Felix da Costa questions decision

Porsche has already declared its intention to appeal against the decision. The Swabian manufacturer now has 96 hours to confirm this intention. Felix da Costa himself commented on Instagram: "The throttle spring was an original Spark part that was in use all last year and was removed from the rule book without notification to the teams... How many other cars out there are with that spring?"

For the time being, Oliver Rowland is the winner of Saturday's race in Misano. The Nissan driver has thus extended his lead in the world championship.

Nissan is initially keeping a low profile on the subject. "We have no comment on this for the time being, we will wait and see," said a team spokeswoman. "However, we assume that an appeal has been lodged against this decision, so we will have to wait and see if and when the decision is ratified."

Formula E continues on Sunday morning with the race Sunday in Misano. The race starts again at 3 pm (CEST).

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