A dramatic turn of events has unfolded at the Misano E-Prix. Just hours after celebrating a thrilling victory, Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa has been disqualified.
Starting from a lowly 13th position, da Costa masterfully navigated the energy-saving challenges of the race and the track, ultimately taking the checkered flag four tenths of a second ahead of Nissan’s Oliver Rowland.
However, a post-race inspection revealed a technical irregularity with da Costa's car. Specifically, a throttle damper spring was deemed "not in conformity" with the current Formula E regulations.
The controversy lies in the origin of the part. According to Porsche, the spring has been unchanged on da Costa's car since the 2022-23 season, the inaugural year for the Gen3 regulations.
Reports from Misano suggest that while the spring was legal under the previous Gen2 regulations, it appears to have been excluded under the updated Gen3 ruleset.
"The [Porsche] team manager [James Lindesay] stated that on the Spark list [of optional items] the sealed part is not listed," stated the stewards’ verdict.
"He explained that normally changes of the Spark catalogue are highlighted so everybody can see the changes.
“The representatives of Spark [Jeremy Boudot and Pierre Prunin] confirmed that this part was listed on the part list of the Gen2 races, but not on the current Gen3 car. They also confirmed that the removal of parts from that catalogue is not highlighted nor canceled."
It is being speculated that the spring in question might have been part of the initial Gen3 component catalog offered by Spark, the chassis supplier, before the cars' official debut, and was removed only later, unbeknownst to Porsche.
This could potentially explain why it remained on da Costa's car.
The stewards were unequivocal in their decision. Regardless of any potential performance advantage, they ruled that da Costa's car "has to be disqualified”, arguing that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with the regulations lies with the competing team.
While the disqualification is a major setback, Porsche is currently considering filing an appeal. The team has opted to remain silent for the time being but is expected to release an official statement tomorrow morning outlining their position.
With da Costa's disqualification at Misano, the victory falls to Rowland and to the Nissan team, marking the Briton’s first triumph in Formula E since his sole win in the all-electric series in Berlin in 2020.
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