Porsche and Antonio Felix da Costa will end their three-season partnership ahead of the 2025/26 Formula E season, the team confirmed today. The split concludes a collaboration that yielded five victories and a coveted Teams’ World Championship, but which was frequently marked by internal friction behind the scenes.
On the surface, the departure is an amicable one. In an official statement, both parties praised their shared achievements, which culminated in Porsche securing both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles last season in London. Da Costa, a Formula E veteran and the Season 6 champion, was instrumental in that success, notably with his spectacular winning overtake in Cape Town in 2023 and by securing Porsche’s first-ever home E-Prix victory in Berlin in 2024.
“I’m happy that it happened instead of being sad that it ends,” said da Costa. “I raced for one of the most prestigious brands in the world – that’s an honour for me, and I’m proud that this will forever be a part of my career.”
Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, echoed the sentiment, thanking the Portuguese driver for his contribution. “He played a decisive role in enabling us to reach that achievement,” Laudenbach stated. “Moments like his overtaking manoeuvre in Cape Town and our first home victory in Berlin will remain in our memories.”
However, the warm public statements belie a relationship that sources describe as a “culture clash” that became increasingly difficult to manage. The partnership, which began with high hopes in 2022, showed its first signs of strain in late 2023 when Porsche mandated that da Costa drop his World Endurance Championship program to focus solely on Formula E—a decision the driver, who thrives on a busy racing schedule, reportedly disagreed with.
Tensions escalated significantly in the spring of 2024 when it emerged that Porsche had given a private test to Nico Mueller, then a driver for a rival team. The move was seen as a clear signal that the team was evaluating its options, and it created a palpable sense of unease within the garage.
Ironically, the period that followed was da Costa’s most successful. In a remarkable turnaround, he went on a stunning run of form, claiming four victories—more than any other driver that season—and playing a crucial role in securing the team’s championship titles. The results temporarily eased the tension, but the underlying issues remained.
The relationship, particularly with teammate Pascal Wehrlein, continued to deteriorate. Reports of a confrontation between the pair at the start of last season in Sao Paulo signalled that the driver lineup was no longer tenable, despite the team’s efforts to reconcile the situation.
With da Costa now officially on the market, it is widely expected that Nico Mueller, whose personality is seen as a more straightforward fit for the German manufacturer, will be confirmed as his replacement. For both Porsche and da Costa, the split marks the end of a partnership that, while undeniably successful on track, proved to be unsustainable off it.
