At the São Paulo E-Prix, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team retained its lead in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. With four weeks until the doubleheader event of the innovative electric racing series in Berlin on 22 and 23 April, António Félix da Costa narrowly missed out on clinching a podium result scoring fourth in Brazil at the wheel of his Porsche 99X Electric.
His teammate and current championship leader Pascal Wehrlein gained eleven positions in the race on the São Paulo Street Circuit and took the flag in seventh place. After the events in Hyderabad and Cape Town, the Brazilian financial hub was the third new venue on the 2023 Formula E calendar. On the São Paulo Street Circuit with its characteristic long straights, fans were treated to a race packed with overtaking moves and slipstream duels. After securing three race victories so far this season, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team gave an impressive performance in the metropolis with a strong team effort and a solid harvest of points.
In the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Pascal Wehrlein leads the drivers’ standings with 86 points ahead of Jake Dennis (GBR) from the Porsche customer team Avalanche Andretti, who left São Paulo empty-handed. António Félix da Costa ranks fifth. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team leads the team classification with 144 points, 41 points ahead of Envision Racing. After André Lotterer (GER) finished twelfth, Avalanche Andretti occupies fifth place.
After scoring his best qualifying result this season, in which he missed out on pole position by just six-hundredths of a second in his Porsche 99X Electric, António Félix da Costa tackled the race from P2. He moved into the lead several times during his race on the 2.933-kilometre circuit. In the final phase, however, the winner of the Cape Town race made a driving error, which thwarted his chance of a podium finish. With fourth place, he still scored as many crucial points as Pascal Wehrlein: Starting from P18, the Diriyah two-time winner put in a strong drive to make up no fewer than eleven positions and ultimately finish seventh.