António Félix da Costa to Join Andretti Formula E for Season Three Championship
FIA Formula E Race Winner to Pilot No. 28 MS Amlin Andretti All-Electric Car
INDIANAPOLIS (August 10, 2016) – Portuguese driver Antonio Félix da Costa will join the Andretti Formula E team for the upcoming FIA Formula E Championship. Piloting the No. 28 MS Amlin Andretti car for Season Three will mark a renewed relationship between Félix da Costa and the global insurance company.
“To join Andretti Formula E is a big thing for me,” said Felix da Costa. “I have always loved the way Americans go racing, and how they do sports in general. I’m a big fan of IndyCar and, to me, Andretti Autosport has always been an iconic team. To finally be able to say that I’m joining and racing for this amazing team and family is a big deal. We have a great team in place, the MS Amlin car looks good and the people around me are super professional. I’m ready to get the season started.”
Charles Philipps, MS Amlin CEO, said, “We are delighted to have Antonio back driving for our team. He proved to be a favourite with the fans and a winner in Season One. We’re excited to see him racing in the MS Amlin colours for Season Three.”
Félix da Costa claimed his maiden Formula E victory in Buenos Aires in January 2015, and went on to finish eighth overall at the end of the 2014/2015 season. Félix da Costa finished the 2015/2016 season ranked 13th in the driver standings, with Motorsport.com placing him fourth overall in the top 10 drivers of the season due to keeping cool at all times even when faced with so much bad luck.
“We’re very excited to have Antonio join the team for Season Three.” Added Andretti Formula E team owner, Michael Andretti. “I feel adding him is going to give us one of the strongest driver line ups in the field. We’ve been watching Antonio over the last two seasons and I feel he has been very impressive on the racetrack. It will be great to be racing with him, instead of against him.”
Most recently, Félix da Costa has been preparing for the coming season by turning laps with Andretti Technologies in the TE Connectivity ATEC-002 Formula E test car.
“The driver-engineer pairing plays an integral role in the success of the race team,” said Alan Amici, VP of automotive engineering at TE Connectivity. “In a sport where milliseconds matter, Antonio has been providing our engineers with important feedback on the car to help improve performance. Technological advancements combined with talented drivers give us great confidence as we prepare for the start of the season.”
Coming from a racing family, Félix Da Costa started karting at the age of nine racing in a number of Portuguese championships against competition who were much older. In 2007, he progressed into single-seaters in Formula Renault 2.0. After gaining attention in both Formula 3 Euro Series and GP3, he joined the Red Bull program as a Formula One test driver where he made his debut for Force India in 2010. Antonio scored a breakthrough victory in the prestigious DTM touring car series to bolster an already impressive CV that includes victory at the Macau Grand Prix.
Félix da Costa completes the Andretti Formula E two-car effort for the 2016/2017 season, joining Dutchman Robin Frijns for competition in the newly developed ATEC-002 all-electric machines. Season Three of the FIA Formula E Championship begins on October 9th on the streets of Hong Kong (CN).
