Formula E’s struggle for credibility took a blow yesterday after the farcical Valencia ePrix as cars ran out of energy, others stopped on track and a result that prompted Antonio Felix da Costa to take a swipe at the FIA for the handling of the race.
Da Costa, who drives for Chinese team DS Techeetah, who led with a couple of laps to go, during a fifth safety car period at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, was accused by FIA director of Formula E Frederic Bertrand of going too fast and forcing a second lap as opposed to one.
The result was that cars simply ran out of energy as they crawled towards the finish line on greatly reduced power which turned the race into a fiasco. Teams have not blamed Da Costa for the bizarre end.
The reigning Formula E Champion wrote on Twitter: “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this [from the FIA].
“If I go even slower under [the safety car], how many teams would have protested me at the end? And also, if I go slower, they would have reduced more energy. Today it was only on the hands of the FIA to save all of us from this.”
“As a motorsport fan, today was a big day for Formula E because it’s the first permanent circuit race that we do. I’m sure we attracted some new eyes, some not-convinced people to watch us and to give them a closer look.
“That is not what Formula E is all about. It’s not the image we want to pass. We will be the joke of the week, I guess. It’s not a good day for us. I feel sorry for the fans.”
“As a driver, this one hurts a lot. There’s not much we could have done. Theoretically, I’m excluded, I’m out of the race because I used too much energy by 0.1.
“In the end, the team and everyone is hurt. Everyone is down. It’s painful. You cannot believe it. The engineers are down there and sad.”
As for the call from his pit about the energy situation, Da Costa explained: “I got a call for the energy reduction, but when they gave me the call I was like ‘are you sure?’
“It seems wrong that I’m not going to arrive. They said ‘Yeah’. That’s it. I’ve gone from being all good and I might win this race to I am not coming home tonight,” he added.