"Wanted to be smarter than yesterday" - How Felix da Costa achieved the long-awaited Porsche home win in Berlin

Successful performance for Porsche at the Formula E home race: After a denied victory in Misano, Antonio Felix da Costa celebrated his first win of the season at the Berlin E-Prix. The Portuguese driver was part of the leading group from the start of Sunday's race and caught a favourable moment to pull away at the front when the competition was busy with internal world championship battles.

"Let's see if we can keep it. They took the other one away a few hours after the race," laughed Felix da Costa in the World Signal shortly after the end of the race, alluding to the fact that his first victory of the season was cancelled after the technical inspection. "But no, this time I think we did everything right."

It wasn't just the engineers and mechanics who did everything right in preparation for the race. The Portuguese driver himself also had an agenda for today's race: "You have to keep the car out of everything and be in the right place at the right time. Out timing wasn't quite right yesterday, so I wanted to be a bit smarter today."

"Wanted to be in front when it mattered"

That paid off: from 10th on the grid, the Porsche driver worked his way up into the top four in the first few corners and, together with team-mate Pascal Wehrlein and the two Jaguars, helped to shape the race from the front. "I wanted to be at the front when it mattered," he explains.

The decisive moment for victory came with just under three laps to go: Felix da Costa took the lead from Mitch Evans when the latter braked. Nick Cassidy - after having to avoid contact - was also involved in battles with the drivers behind. At this precise moment, the Porsche driver threw everything into the race and took the lead. He was able to build up a gap of more than a second immediately, as the drivers behind him were busy with other things.

"The first 25 laps were difficult, but it was a bit more relaxed at the end," said the Portuguese driver. "I think the others, who are currently fighting for the world championship, were very happy to let me go so that I wouldn't interfere in their battles. And for me, winning is much more important than regularly finishing fifth."

 

 

 

 

 

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Berlin, a place with memories

This gave Porsche the long-awaited home victory in Berlin-Tempelhof. "I drive for a German team - winning in Germany feels great. It's great to be able to give something back to our employees, customers and also those responsible who can't be at all the races."

Berlin always seems to be where the 32-year-old achieves his best results. This is already his third victory in the German capital, and he also won his championship in Tempelhof. "Berlin has always been a good place for me," he concludes and is delighted that the German capital will definitely remain on the calendar until 2027. "The grandstands were full, it's one of the best European races for the fans."