What Has Caused Da Costa's Dominance in Berlin?
Antonio Felix da Costa (photo: copyright FIA Formula E)
Antonio Felix da Costa swept to dominant victories in both of the first two Berlin E-Prix. In normal circumstances, Motion E would tell the story of both races separately, however as they were part of a double-header, and that double-header was part of a six-race series to close Formula E Season Six, here, instead, is a breakdown of potential reasons why da Costa has found the sweet spot when seemingly nobody else has.
Attention to detail
Da Costa was the only driver to use a more acute angle when triggering the Attack Mode activation zone. On Berlin Tempelhof’s reverse layout, the activation zone was placed in a position that was particularly penalising to drivers, and this was by design - the idea is to make Attack Mode an advantage, but to spice up racing by having drivers lose significant amounts of time by triggering it.
There was consternation from various parts of the pitlane as driver after driver missed the Attack Mode activation zone, which was intended to follow the outer line of the long first corner. Da Costa, on the other hand, came into the corner following, initially, a straighter line, turning more sharply and exiting roughly along the line of the second part of the turn. By cutting down the distance travelled, and providing an easier and quicker line, this allowed da Costa to keep his lead in every instance.
This might all seem like small beer, but triggering Attack Mode was thought to cost two seconds around the reverse Berlin layout, and da Costa saved a significant proportion of that by taking his unique line. It was literally the reason why he avoided losing the lead of race two to Sebastien Buemi, exiting turn one marginally ahead of the Nissan driver, and several tenths of a second saved each time adds up to seconds by the end of a 45-minute-plus-one-lap race.
The source of this original thinking by da Costa are unknown, although the special line is unlikely to be something he was told by DS Techeetah team strategists - if it were, they would have also told Jean-Eric Vergne to take that line, in the interests of fairness. Rather, it seems like something the Portuguese noted for himself by checking the location of the sensors on his track walk, and in simulator work and during practice laps.
It speaks to his incredible attention to detail, and also to the vital importance of reliability, and avoiding accidents, in practice sessions - lapping is so limited in a one-day race meeting that, as James Calado showed in race one, it eliminates the opportunity for free thinking and for trying unconventional things. Add to this the almost perfect setup found in practice, where da Costa was routinely at or near the top of the timesheets, his car barely twitching or sliding in any corner, and you see how participation in all parts of a session is vital.
Staying out of trouble
An obvious one perhaps, but the majority of time is lost in Formula E races by battling with other drivers for position. At no stage in either race was da Costa seriously challenged, allowing for clean-air running the likes of which we have never seen before in the Gen2 era of Formula E. In other formulae, the time when following drivers have an opportunity to pass is often when the leader runs into traffic, however with races so short in Formula E, lapping cars is not an issue.
(photo: copyright FIA Formula E)
The only thing that held up da Costa’s serene progress was a series of full course yellow calls by Race Control. The majority of these were for stopped cars in potentially dangerous positions, and with marshal presence at the circuit limited by COVID-19 regulations allowing only 1000 total staff to attend the race, a safety-first approach was key. A more sweaty-palmed driver might have had a slow getaway at the green flag, but each time the race went green again, da Costa had a comfortable advantage into the following corner.
Contrast da Costa’s races with those of Jean-Eric Vergne, and it is clear how important it was to those two wins that he kept clear of skirmishes. Vergne was involved in incidents in both races, in the first with Lucas di Grassi, who looked more at fault than the Frenchman on the final lap, the second with Edoardo Mortara, who, Vergne said, “put me in the wall”.
These were exactly the kind of midfield collisions Vergne was getting into during the first five rounds of Season Five, meaning he did not get a victory on the board until Sanya in his second title-winning season. The difference is, due to da Costa’s ability to find balance in this iteration of the DS Techeetah that Vergne in those two races could not, and a chasing pack that has made up a lot of ground on last season’s dominant driver, Vergne has not been able to go on the late-season run we might have expected.
Fellow mathematical title contenders Sam Bird and Stoffel Vandoorne both had to muscle their way past several cars, expending energy and time on daring manoeuvres to score top-six finishes in Berlin, while di Grassi, who sites equal second in the title race as of the end of race two, just does not have the pace from the Audi powertrain that allows him to compete for victories on raw pace, and will have to outfox the opposition in an attritional race if he is to take a win.
The mixed blessing of strategy
DS Techeetah have tried, at various stages in Season Six, to use the competitiveness of both of their drivers to the overall advantage of the team, with varying success. In Mexico City, the Chinese team tried a revolutionary (for Formula E) cycling-style strategic call, with each driver using the other’s slipstream and swapping positions at different stages in the race, taking advantage of the long main straight, another rarity in the category.
What prevented this from working was arguably the inertia of having to explain the call ad-hoc to Vergne and da Costa in race conditions, with both drivers questioning the decision vociferously and so missing the window to perform the move effectively. That’s the difference between motorsport and cycling - in cycling, you have a designated lead-out rider on sprints, who does not challenge for stage victories. Neither da Costa nor Vergne is ever going to play wingman for the other, understandably, and yet this is where a good idea for number-crunchers is foiled by the additional variable of ego.
Da Costa runs ahead of Sam Bird in practice in Berlin (photo: copyright FIA Formula E)
Da Costa also missed out on the chance to challenge for victory in Santiago, thanks to a fight over several laps, which he felt was unnecessary, with Vergne. For the DS Techeetah pit not to order Vergne, with a damaged car, to let da Costa through given the differential in pace was a misstep. It perhaps showed the team was used to running Vergne and Andre Lotterer, the latter being well aware of his number-two status in the team and being on record as to being ordered to move over if needed, and yet was usually not in a position to hamper Vergne. In a sport of marginal gains, da Costa’s disappointed expression on taking second behind Max Günther told a story.
With Vergne struggling with the balance of the car over the Berlin reverse layout, da Costa was free from the need to consider team strategy. While support from da Costa’s team-mate would have been useful had he faced significant challenges from other drivers, the pronounced decline of BMW i Andretti since the shutdown has eliminated another stressor. Good strategy is good, but DS Techeetah have not been able to run a well-oiled machine in races as far as driver management goes, and so da Costa being able to race entirely for himself has seemingly cleared his head and let him focus on driving, and on winning.
Visit Motion E on Patreon for a weekly newsletter, full audio from interviews, and more!