Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website António Félix da Costa in the points for MS&AD Andretti at Formula E season-opener in Hong Kong
december 04, 2017 - BMW Motorsport

António Félix da Costa in the points for MS&AD Andretti at Formula E season-opener in Hong Kong

For much of Sunday’s second race, he appeared on course for a podium before a delay in launching after the pit stop resulted in him dropping down the field. He finished the race in eleventh place. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) won the FanBoost vote in both races on his #formulae debut, and came home 15thand 17th.

 

The Saturday race

Félix da Costa kicked off Season 4 with a strong race and finished sixth to score the first eight points of the season for the MS&AD Andretti #formulae team. He started from eighth place and stayed clear of trouble on an eventful opening lap. Several cars behind him were involved in a collision, which caused the race to be suspended. Following the re-start behind the Qualcomm #bmw #i8 Safety Car, Félix da Costa kept one eye on his energy reserves in the first half of the race. As such, he was one of the last drivers to come into the pits, and led the race at that point. In the second half of the race, Félix da Costa stayed in touch with the front-runners and was able to gain a place. He crossed the finish line in seventh place, but was subsequently promoted one position due to a penalty given to Maro Engel (GER). Kobayashi ended the first #formulae race of his career in 15th. Victory went to Sam Bird (GBR).

 

The Sunday race

A problem with the starting lights meant that race two of the weekend was started behind the Qualcomm #bmw #i8 Safety Car. Félix da Costa benefitted from a spin by leader Felix Rosenqvist (SWE) to climb from his sixth place starting position into fifth. A few laps later, he pulled off a remarkable overtaking manoeuvre to move ahead of Alex Lynn (GBR) and into fourth. When the #bmw works driver came into the pits, he was running fourth behind Mitch Evans (NZL) and had his sights set on a podium finish. However, a delay in launching the second car then cost Félix da Costa a lot of time and saw him drop out of the points positions. He ended the race in eleventh. Kobayashi, who, as in the opening race, had the FanBoost at his disposal, crossed the finish line in 17th place. Felix Rosenqvist won the second race of the year.

 

The reactions

António Félix da Costa, MS&AD Andretti #formulae: “I am pleased to have scored points at the start of the season. That was a good start on Saturday. We had a problem with the radio, and the pit stop was not perfect either. We could have done even better than sixth. On Sunday, it was a disappointing end to what was looking to be a very, very promising race. We had a good qualifying and got ourselves starting in P6. We managed to be very, very good on energy saving – went a lap longer than everyone. We were going to have a strong second stint, then we came in for the pit stop. We lost 20 seconds and finished the race 28 seconds behind the leader. We would have been very, very close. I think at least P2 would have been ours so it’s very disappointing to finish 11th. We’ll figure out what happened and come back ready for Marrakesh.”

 

Kamui Kobayashi, MS&AD Andretti #formulae: “I really enjoyed my first experience of #formulae. We certainly did not get the maximum out of the car in the two races, but I was happy to finish on my debut. Thank you to all the fans whose votes allowed me to use the FanBoost in both races.“

 

The #bmw i Fleet

BMW i is once again “Official Vehicle Partner” of the FIA #formulae Championship in Season 4. The #bmw #i8 (combined fuel consumption: 2.1 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 49 g/km)* continues to take to the track as a powerful and efficient safety car. The same goes for the new #bmw i3s (combined energy consumption: 14.3 kWh; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)* as “medical car” and “race control car”, and the #bmw X5 xDrive40e (combined fuel consumption: 3.4 – 3.3 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 78 – 77 g/km)* in its role as “rescue car” and “extrication car”.

 

 

* The fuel consumption and CO2 emissions figures shown were determined according to the European Regulation (EC) 715/2007 in the version applicable at the time of type approval. The figures refer to a vehicle with basic configuration in Germany and the range shown considers the different size of the selected wheels and tires. The CO2 efficiency specifications are determined according to Directive 1999/94/EC and the Pkw-EnVKV, and based (for classification) on the fuel consumption and CO2 values as per the NEDC cycle. Further information on official fuel consumption figures and specific CO2 emission values of new passenger cars is included in the following guideline: “Leitfaden über Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen” (Guideline for fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars), which can be obtained free of charge from all dealerships and at https://www.dat.de/en/offers/publications/guideline-for-fuel-consumption.html.