| António Félix da Costa | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Born | August 31, 1991 Lisbon (Portugal) |
| Related to | Duarte Félix da Costa (brother) |
| 2012 GP3 Series | |
| Current team | Status Grand Prix |
| Car no. | 4 |
| Previous series | |
| 2008–09 2008–09 2010 |
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC |
| Championship titles | |
| 2009 | Formula Renault 2.0 NEC |
António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born August 31, 1991 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese auto racing driver. His elder brother Duarte is also a racing driver. He currently resides in Cascais.
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Da Costa began his Kart racing career at the age of nine. In the Cadet class, da Costa won the Portuguese Championship and the Portuguese Karting Open in 2002, before winning the South Portuguese Championship in 2003.
In 2004, da Costa stepped up to the ICA-J class, but he had to wait until 2006 to win his first title, the Portuguese Championship. 2006 was the year where he also achieved strong results in Europe, with a runner-up placing in the World Series Karting Championship and a third in the Italian Open Masters.
In 2007, da Costa became an official factory driver for the legendary Italian Tony Kart team, in the newly-renamed KF2 category. His best results were a fourth in the Asia-Pacific Championship and a runner-up in the South-Garda Winter Cup.
Félix da Costa moved into single seaters in 2008, competing in both the Eurocup and Northern European championships of Formula Renault. Making his debut in the NEC at Hockenheim, he finished third behind team-mates Valtteri Bottas and Tobias Hegewald, after starting from third on the grid.[1] Unlike his team-mates, his main focus was the NEC, and he took his first win at Oschersleben while most of his rivals were competing in the Eurocup round at the Hungaroring. He finished as runner-up in the championship, 86 points behind the dominant Bottas, and as a prize, da Costa tested a Formula Renault 3.5 Series car with the P1 Motorsport team at Paul Ricard.[2] In six Eurocup races, he recorded a best finish of fourth at Estoril en route to thirteenth in the championship. Da Costa also served as a rookie driver for A1 Team Portugal.
With Bottas, Hegewald, Daniel Ricciardo, Roberto Merhi et al. moving to either Formula Two or Formula Three, da Costa became a title contender in both the Eurocup and NEC Formula Renault series. Da Costa followed Bottas' lead of 2008, by dominating the NEC field, wrapping up the title at the Nürburgring.[3][4] Consistency was the key to da Costa's Eurocup campaign, finishing in the top five in the first seven races. He led the series until the rounds at the Nürburgring, where he ran under appeal, for a technical infringement in Super Pole.[5] Da Costa dominated the first race at the brand new Ciudad del Motor de Aragón circuit, winning from his first series pole position, and also set fastest lap along the way. He completed the double the following day, however he lost out on second place in the championship to Jean-Éric Vergne on a tie-breaker.
Félix da Costa has stepped up to the Formula 3 Euro Series for the 2010 season, moving up with Motopark Academy.[6] He won his first race in the series on 8 August 2010, at the Nürburgring, passing polesitter Jim Pla at the start.[7]
On 16 November 2010, he took part in the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi driving for Force India and was third fastest, beating the team's official test driver, Paul di Resta, time by more than a second.[8]
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter | CR Scuderia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | NC† |
| Formula Renault 2.0 Portugal Winter | Motopark Academy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17th | |
| Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 13th | ||
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 280 | 2nd | ||
| 2009 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Motopark Academy | 14 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 128 | 3rd |
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | 14 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 361 | 1st | ||
| 2010 | Formula Three Euroseries | Motopark Academy | 18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 40 | 7th |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Motopark Academy | Dallara F308/098 | Volkswagen | LEC 1 8 |
LEC 2 8 |
HOC1 1 7 |
HOC1 2 9 |
VAL 1 6 |
VAL 2 Ret |
NOR 1 7 |
NOR 2 Ret |
NÜR 1 7 |
NÜR 2 1 |
ZAN 1 8 |
ZAN 2 1 |
BRH 1 8 |
BRH 2 1 |
OSC 1 3 |
OSC 2 Ret |
HOC2 1 9 |
HOC2 2 4 |
7th | 40 |
* Season in progress.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Carlin | ESP FEA |
ESP SPR |
TUR FEA |
TUR SPR |
VAL FEA |
VAL SPR |
GBR FEA |
GBR SPR |
GER FEA |
GER SPR |
HUN FEA 6 |
HUN SPR 17 |
BEL FEA Ret |
BEL SPR 12 |
ITA FEA |
ITA SPR |
26th | 3 |
| 2011 | Status Grand Prix | TUR FEA 5 |
TUR SPR 4 |
ESP FEA 12 |
ESP SPR 17 |
VAL FEA Ret |
VAL SPR 20† |
GBR FEA 19 |
GBR SPR 9 |
GER FEA 28 |
GER SPR Ret |
HUN FEA 11 |
HUN SPR 6 |
BEL FEA Ret |
BEL SPR 11 |
ITA FEA 7 |
ITA SPR 1 |
13th | 16 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Valtteri Bottas |
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Champion 2009 |
Succeeded by Ludwig Ghidi |
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