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Antonio Felix da Costa has mounted a forceful defence of Jaguar after the Formula E season-ending London E-Prix, arguing that Porsche’s complaints about his driving were impossible to separate from the tactics it had used throughout the weekend.
Team orders and coordinated driving became central to the final two races. From qualifying on Saturday, Porsche took measures to support Pascal Wehrlein. Porsche-powered drivers were permitted to give Wehrlein the advantage in qualifying, with the exception of the Andretti cars, while Nico Müller produced a committed defensive display in both races.
Müller’s defending came against Jaguar’s Mitch Evans, who accused the Swiss driver of moving under braking and brake-checking. No penalty followed. The same pattern emerged at the start of Sunday’s race, prompting Jaguar to respond with an identical approach.
Da Costa then over-consumed energy to move ahead of Evans, Müller and Wehrlein before positioning his Jaguar across the circuit and keeping the German behind. The move intensified an already bitter rivalry between the pair, who were teammates at Porsche for three seasons before da Costa switched to Jaguar.
The weekend’s wider context is covered in our report on Pascal Wehrlein securing his second Formula E title in the London finale.
Da Costa acknowledged that the defensive approach was not how he wanted to race. However, he said Porsche had effectively created the conditions for Jaguar to adopt the same strategy.
“Nico just opening the gaps in a bad way, and when I saw that, I said, ‘Okay, we had a plan B to react to that,’ and that was not our plan A,” da Costa told RacingNews365. “We simply did what they did. I know they’re saying things; I haven’t heard or read anything, but it just makes them look stupid, to be honest. You can’t have it both ways.”
Wehrlein, despite being crowned a two-time world champion, was furious after the race and described da Costa’s driving as “one of the most unsporting and unfair things I have seen”. Da Costa rejected that assessment, saying the history between them removed any hesitation about defending so aggressively.
He also referred to contact in Tokyo the previous month, claiming Wehrlein had deliberately taken him out after his own car was already damaged. Da Costa stressed that he received no penalty in London and believed he had stayed within the rules and guidelines.
The result was a finale that settled the championship but did little to cool one of Formula E’s most personal rivalries.
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