Formula E: Antonio Felix da Costa wins 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix

Antonio Felix da Costa opened up the 2018-2019 Formula E season by holding off defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne to win the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix.

Entering the opening race of the 2018-2019 Formula E season, the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix, BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Antonio Felix da Costa had the longest win drought among active drivers at 38 races. But he ended this win drought by winning this race, earning his second career Formula E victory and his first victory since he won the 2015 Buenos Aires ePrix in the process.

While da Costa started the 33-lap race around the 21-turn, 1.550-mile (2.494-kilometer) Riyadh Street Circuit in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia from the pole position in his #28 Spark-BMW, it was certainly not an easy race for him to win.

DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne, the defending Formula E champion, took the lead from da Costa before the race’s halfway point in his #25 Spark-DS Automobiles. Techeetah’s Andre Lotterer then took second place away from da Costa in his #36 Spark-DS Automobiles.

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However, both Vergne and Lotterer were given drive-through penalties for technical infractions, which sent da Costa back into the race lead.

But as the end of the race neared, a safety car period took place when Geox Dragon Racing’s Jose Maria Lopez hit the wall in his #7 Spark-Penske, bunching up the field and putting Vergne and Lotterer back into play with only a few minutes remaining in the race.

Vergne restarted the race in third place behind da Costa and Mahindra Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio. He passed d’Ambrosio and went from being more than two seconds behind da Costa to being right on his bumper on the race’s final lap.

However, da Costa was able to hold off Vergne to secure his second career Formula E victory and to deliver BMW i Andretti Motorsport their first Formula E victory. He held off the defending champion by 0.462 seconds, and he prevented what would have been the race’s third lead change from taking place in doing so.

D’Ambrosio ended up finishing in third place in his #64 Spark-Mahindra. Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans finished in fourth in his #20 Spark-Jaguar. Lotterer finished in fifth.

Nissan e.dams teammates Sebastien Buemi and Oliver Rowland, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler teammates Daniel Abt and Lucas di Grassi and Jaguar Racing’s Nelson Piquet Jr. rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #23 Spark-Nissan, #22 Spark-Nissan, #66 Spark-Audi, #11 Spark-Audi and #3 Spark-Jaguar, respectively.

Da Costa led more laps than any driver in the field, as he led 24 of the race’s 33 laps. Vergne led the other nine. Of the 22 drivers who started the race, 19 finished it and 18 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix.

Race Results
1st – Antonio Felix da Costa
2nd – Jean-Eric Vergne
3rd – Jerome d’Ambrosio
4th – Mitch Evans
5th – Andre Lotterer
6th – Sebastien Buemi
7th – Oliver Rowland
8th – Daniel Abt
9th – Lucas di Grassi
10th – Nelson Piquet Jr.
11th – Sam Bird
12th – Robin Frijns
13th – Oliver Turvey
14th – Felipe Massa
15th – Tom Dillmann
16th – Maximilian Gunther
17th – Stoffel Vandoorne
18th – Alexander Sims
19th – Edoardo Mortara
20th – Jose Maria Lopez
21st – Gary Paffett
22nd – Felix Rosenqvist

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The next race on the 2018-2019 Formula E schedule is the Marrakesh ePrix. This race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan in Marrakesh, Morocco, so be sure not to miss it.

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