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For AntĂłnio FĂ©lix da Costa, the current Formula E season has been a study in contrasts â flashes of brilliance repeatedly extinguished by circumstances entirely beyond his control. The Portuguese driver himself concedes the campaign has been "difficult" to handle, and it is hard to argue otherwise when the statistics are laid bare.
His transition from Porsche to Jaguar has been seamless in almost every technical and professional sense. Da Costa has slotted into the Big Cat's setup with ease, quickly establishing himself as a cornerstone of the team's plans heading into the Gen4 era. The 34-year-old Season 6 champion has not been short of pace â far from it. His qualifying record this season ranks among the strongest in the field, with eight duel appearances from the opening 10 rounds, and he has yet to start a race outside the top 10.
The problem, quite simply, has been what happens next.
In a statistic that borders on the extraordinary, da Costa has been involved in contact in six of the ten completed races this season â and in almost every case, the fault has lain elsewhere. In SĂŁo Paulo, he was struck by Pepe MartĂ. He was then caught up in a multi-car collision in Mexico City, spun by Felipe Drugovich in Miami, suffered a puncture in the second Berlin race after contact with Nico MĂŒller, was involved in a heavy crash in the opening Monaco race following an incident with Dan Ticktum, and was then spun by Edoardo Mortara in the second Monaco race.
The cumulative effect on his championship standing has been severe. Da Costa currently sits sixth in the drivers' standings on 80 points â a total that flatters neither his pace nor his racecraft. By any reasonable estimate, he would have accumulated somewhere between 30 and 40 additional points had fortune been more even-handed. That deficit becomes even more stark when set against the position of his Jaguar teammate Mitch Evans, who leads the championship by 48 points with seven races still to run.
It is a reminder of how cruelly motorsport can punish drivers who are blameless in their misfortune â a dynamic that resonates well beyond Formula E. Across the paddock in various series, a single ill-timed incident can unravel an entire campaign, as George Russell discovered when a power unit failure ended his Canadian Grand Prix from the lead, gifting a significant points swing to his championship rival.
Perhaps the most remarkable chapter of da Costa's troubled season came in the second Monaco race. Spun on the opening lap at the Nouvelle Chicane by Mortara, he was left to rebuild from the back â yet recovered to finish on the podium. It was the kind of result that speaks to both the depth of his talent and the sheer force of his determination.
"I think I've said already, I just can't believe what's happening to me this year," da Costa told RacingNews365 after the Monaco podium. "I'm a big believer that these things are thrown at me â or at us â to build character, and I've been going through either very amazing emotions or very sad ones. The last couple of weeks have been tricky.
"When that happened [with Dan Ticktum on Saturday], I thought, 'Why this again?' But I really believe God has a plan for everything that is thrown at us. So yeah, I'm happy to have made the comeback stick, and I think it just shows that we should never, ever give up."
When the racing has stayed clean, da Costa has been a winner. Victories in Jeddah and Madrid demonstrate what he is capable of when left to race on his own terms.
Navigating such a turbulent run of form requires more than individual resilience â it demands the right environment around a driver. By da Costa's own account, Jaguar have provided exactly that.
Asked how difficult it has been to manage his emotions through such a trying season, he was candid: "Difficult. But I think I'm surrounded by amazing people, and, you know, it's me and this team â we're getting to know each other very well, and we'll work well together moving forward. They'll help me manage my emotions and my goals, and we'll continue to work well together."
With seven races remaining and a title deficit that remains mathematically closeable, da Costa's season is far from over. Whether fortune finally aligns with his undeniable speed may well define not just where he finishes in 2025, but the trajectory of Jaguar's Gen4 ambitions.
Heâs a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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