"I am incredibly sorry for Porsche & Antonio" - Günther & Felix da Costa reflect on early crash in Jeddah

What an unfortunate Formula E weekend for Antonio Felix da Costa! Having travelled to Jeddah as the world championship leader, the Porsche driver was crashed out of the race on the first lap of both races - through no fault of his own. While the Portuguese driver speaks of a serious mental setback, Günther apologises profusely.

After Felix da Costa was crashed out by Nico Müller in Friday's race, he became the victim of Max Günther on Saturday. The German DS driver was involved in a duel of his own with Edo Mortara immediately behind the Portuguese driver and ventured a late attack that ended in disaster for himself and also for Felix da Costa.

"It was very close in Turn 1 and Turn 2 with Edo and me", Günther describes on the YouTube channel of e-Formula.news. "He then left the inside open in Turn 3. I wanted to get next to him, then braked and at that moment the front axle immediately locked."

So Günther skidded straight ahead and crashed into the Porsche of Felix da Costa, who had already turned left. His attempted explanation: "Of course you have cold tyres, cold brakes and it's tight at the start. But in the end, I didn't manage to slow the car down in time."

Collision on lap one 😩

Maximilian Günther goes deep and makes contact with da Costa sending them both to the pits. #JeddahEPrix pic.twitter.com/bkONluQwxE

- Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) February 15, 2025

"That was of course an unfortunate incident in the starting phase", admits Günther and takes all the blame: "Antonio was the victim and couldn't help it at all. He wasn't actually involved in the fight between Edo and me. I feel incredibly sorry for Porsche - and for Antonio most of all, of course."

Felix da Costa: "We had everything to fight for the win today"

Felix da Costa is not complaining about Günther, but about his bad luck in Saudi Arabia: "It feels like a weekend where I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both times I was hit very, very hard on lap 1, and today that meant the end of the race for us. The race was over after three corners, which is a shame."

A very good result could have been possible for him. "We started in fourth and had everything to fight for the win today," says Felix da Costa and adds: "This really hurts us - both mentally and in our championship. But we still have a long season ahead of us. We will keep fighting."

Despite his two retirements in Jeddah, Felix da Costa is still in third place in the Formula E drivers' standings, albeit 29 points behind leader Oliver Rowland. Günther, thanks to his victory on Friday, is two points behind in fourth place. Both still have every chance of winning the title, even if they'll first have to digest the race Saturday in Jeddah.