António Félix da Costa Leads Jaguar 1-2 In Madrid E-Prix

António Félix da Costa produced PIT BOOST perfection on the way to the win in ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s first race in Madrid, heading home teammate Mitch Evans for a Jaguar TCS Racing one-two – narrowly ahead of Porsche Formula E Team’s Pascal Wehrlein.

The grandstands and verges were filled around Circuito del Madrid Jarama – RACE, and fans – as well as King Felipe VI, who was also in attendance – were treated to an instant classic of a race with da Costa leading Evans, Wehrlein and Dan Ticktum across the line with less than a second between them.

Da Costa had started third and was first to jump into the pits for his stop on Lap 12. He pushed through the laps to take ATTACK MODE late on – matching up those around him out-front as the PIT BOOST stops shook out.

That teed up a real sprint to the finish with da Costa’s mirrors full of the fast-charging CUPRA Kiro of Ticktum on home soil for the Spanish car brand. The Brit made a stunning move stick around the outside of Wehrlein as the top four jostled on Lap 21 for second, with Evans following for P3 at the final chicane. 

Evans then spotted his chance to go and sliced by Ticktum to take the fight for victory to teammate da Costa. The Kiwi thought the win was his, but he couldn’t quite make a move stick with da Costa placing his Jaguar in all the right places to hold on to the flag to seal back-to-back victories with his new team.

Wehrlein pipped Ticktum to third as the Kiro driver made a last-ditch move on the Jaguars – Ticktum and CUPRA KIRO would still be mighty pleased with fourth.

Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing) rounded fifth with the outfit looking strong on pace – teammate Nyck de Vries compromised his own front-running race through a shunt with Wehrlein that was later penalised.

Sébastien Buemi (Envision Racing) wound up sixth after a late charge. Jake Dennis (Andretti Formula E) and Nico Mueller (Porsche Formula E Team) came home seventh and eighth with Pepe Martí (CUPRA KIRO) – an early race leader much to the joy of the Spanish crowd – bagging points with ninth. Joel Eriksson (Envision Racing) completed the top 10.

All that sees Pascal Wehrlein top the Drivers’ table – 11 points clear of Mortara. Da Costa jumps to fourth.

Jaguar closed in on Porsche in the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ standings: now only four points in the former and three in the latter.

Formula E now heads to Berlin, Germany for Rounds 7 & 8 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on 2 & 3 May.

António Félix da Costa, No. 13, Jaguar TCS Racing

“Back-to-back wins, a 1-2 for the team – that doesn’t happen often! Massive congratulations to all the boys and girls back in the UK providing us with these cars. It’s kind of a home race for me – I have a lot of friends and family here – and it’s a bit of a dream day. We’re both winners, we both wanted to win, we just got different messages. We’ll work it out. I’m happy for Mitch [Evans] – he must have done an amazing race, I’ve got to go back and watch that because he came from the back! I’m happy with what we executed today, and it’s a dream day.”

Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing

“I should have won the race, but I don’t want to take anything away from António [Félix da Costa], he drove a mega race. A 1-2 for the team and the team got the result they wanted. I was playing the long game and I had a good energy advantage that got me in the fight during the pit window, especially towards the end. I was surprised to be in the mix but with my energy advantage it was going to be a good finish. It still was, just not the result I was hoping for. It is what it is, but a great 1-2 for the team.”

Pascal Wehrlein, No. 94, Porsche Formula E Team

“I think with what happened very early into the race with [Nyck] De Vries [hitting the back of my car], it damaged the car quite badly with my rear wing just hanging and touching the tyre, I wasn’t expecting to finish on the podium today but even better we did! Who knows what would have been possible without that contact and a proper car intact and not damaged. In the last couple of laps I just had to accept that I was not in the fight for the win. I backed off a tiny bit because I was down on energy, but still kept myself in a position for exactly what happened on that last lap between Dan [Ticktum] and Mitch [Evans], and I could take the podium and good points.”

Written by

Jarrod Partridge

Jarrod Partridge is the Co-Founder of F1 Chronicle and an FIA accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following Formula 1. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered F1 races at circuits around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every race report, driver profile, and technical analysis he writes.

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