P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Tag Heuer Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa has said his team suffered a “kick in the butt” at the Jeddah E-Prix, and has warned its rivals that they are catching-up quickly as Formula E enters a mid-season break.
The Portuguese driver had a challenging weekend at the city’s first E-Prix, finishing ninth in Race 1 and retiring in Race 2 due to an early collision with Maximilian Guenther. Despite starting the weekend as the championship leader, da Costa now finds himself in third place, trailing behind Oliver Rowland and Taylor Barnard by 29 points. The Nissan powertrain, also used by Barnard’s NEOM McLaren team, demonstrated its strength in both races, showing Nissan’s development and the works team’s potential as contenders for the title. Da Costa emphasized the competitiveness of their rivals, indicating a need for increased effort and improvement from the German giants. He identified Rowland as the main threat to Porsche’s championship aspirations and highlighted the upcoming break before the Miami E-Prix as a crucial period for the team to regroup and maintain their status as serious contenders in the season. Da Costa expressed confidence in their capabilities to challenge Nissan and Rowland for the championship title.
