António Félix da Costa: The Portuguese Driver Who Conquered Everything and Now Wears the Alpine #35 in the WEC

Some drivers win championships. Some drivers win at Le Mans. Some drivers conquer the Macau Grand Prix. And some drivers test Adrian Newey Formula 1 cars. António Félix da Costa has done all four. At 34 years old, the Lisbon-born driver is one of the few paddock figures today who can claim victories across disciplines as different as Formula E, the WEC, the DTM, Formula Renault and endurance racing. And today, Tuesday April 14th 2026, as the WEC Hypercars took to the Imola Prologue, the Alpine A424 number 35 returned to Italian asphalt with him at the wheel. The next stop is Sunday April 19th. The 6 Hours of Imola. The start of a season in which Alpine wants to reach higher than ever before it closes its Hypercar programme at the end of the year.

But to understand where da Costa is today, you need to know where he came from.

Lisbon, 1991: where everything began

António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa was born on August 31st 1991 in Lisbon, Portugal. He grew up in a family with deep roots in Portuguese motorsport, a context that explains why at nine years old he was already competing in karting. It was not a summer hobby or an experiment by enthusiastic parents. It was the beginning of a vocation that never wavered.

His early karting years were in domestic Portuguese competitions. In 2002 he won the Portuguese National Karting Championship in the Cadet category, the Taça de Portugal that same year, and the Portugal Karting Open. In 2003 he dominated the Regional Sul in Cadet. In 2005 he was second in the Taça de Portugal already in the Junior category. In 2006 he raised the level: he won the Portuguese National Junior Karting Championship and was runner-up in the WSK International Series ICA Junior. In 2007 he finished second in the Portuguese Senior Karting Championship. These results clearly drew the profile of a driver with a cool head, consistency and speed.

He moved to single-seaters in 2008 at 16, exactly the right moment to take full advantage of a ladder that in Europe was perfectly constructed.

2008-2009: Formula Renault and the debut that announced what was to come

His first category was the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup with Motopark Academy in 2008. The result was immediate: runner-up, with one victory and ten podiums in sixteen races. Only Valtteri Bottas was faster. That year he also competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, finishing sixteenth, and in the British and Portuguese series of the same category.

In 2009 da Costa focused on the Northern European Cup and dominated it. Nine victories in fourteen races. Champion. In the Eurocup, tied on points with Jean-Éric Vergne at the end of the season, he finished third. The two drivers who beat him, Vergne and champion Albert Costa, would go on to Formula 1 and top-level motorsport in time. The company surrounding da Costa said a great deal about the level of field he was dominating.

2010-2013: Formula 3, GP3, Red Bull and the doors of Formula 1

2010 was the year of the move to the Formula 3 Euro Series, also with Motopark. Three victories, Best Rookie of the season award, sixth at the Macau Grand Prix. That same year he also did six British Formula 3 races with Hitech and some GP3 tests with Carlin.

In 2011 he moved to GP3 with Status Grand Prix, taking one victory at Monza though finishing thirteenth in the championship. He also competed in six British F3 races. The accumulated work was enough that in 2012 the big news arrived: signing with the Red Bull Junior Team. Red Bull, at that point Formula 1’s most dominant team with Adrian Newey as the principal architect of their cars, selected da Costa for their talent development programme. The Portuguese driver became the first driver from his nation to have the backing of one of the paddock’s biggest junior programmes.

That 2012 was especially active. He returned to GP3 with Carlin: three victories, six podiums, third in the championship. He competed in Formula Renault 3.5 with Arden Caterham, four victories without completing the full season, fourth overall. And he won the Macau Grand Prix for the first time, triumphing on the most demanding street circuit on the global junior calendar. It was confirmation that da Costa could win when it mattered most.

In 2013 the full Formula Renault 3.5 season brought him third place with three victories and six podiums. During those years he also completed Formula 1 tests, first for Force India in 2010 and then for Red Bull Racing itself, where he had the extraordinary opportunity of driving four of Adrian Newey’s world championship-winning machines. He was closer to Formula 1 than any other Portuguese driver of his generation. But the door never opened fully. The team backed Verstappen. Da Costa sought another direction.

2014-2016: DTM, Formula E and the Macau Grand Prix (again)

In 2014 da Costa became a BMW factory driver in the DTM, the German touring car championship. A category completely different from everything he had done before. The first year was adaptation: 21st in the championship. In 2015 he showed real competitiveness: his first victory at Zandvoort, the first by a Portuguese driver in DTM history, plus further podiums, 11th in the championship with 79 points. In 2016 he added a second victory at the Hockenheim season finale, finishing 17th in the final standings.

Alongside the DTM, da Costa joined the inaugural Formula E season in 2014-15 as a driver for Amlin Aguri. The category was new, the cars were rudimentary compared to what would come later, and the championship had the feel of an experiment more than an established series. Da Costa won at Buenos Aires in his first year, making him one of the first race winners in Formula E history. That season he juggled both championships, though the schedule proved incompatible with the Formula E finale in London where he was replaced.

In season 2015-16, his team, now renamed Techeetah, equipped him with the previous year’s cars due to budget limitations, making it very difficult to compete. The season was quiet, though da Costa showed flashes of pace when the car allowed.

And in November 2016 came his second Macau Grand Prix. Four years after the first. The Guia Circuit in Macau, China, is considered the most difficult street circuit on the global calendar. Its 6.2 kilometres of concrete walls, blind corners and elevation changes demand a combination of bravery, precision and knowledge that few drivers ever truly master. Da Costa mastered it twice. He remains the only driver to have won the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix four years apart, which says everything about his adaptability and consistency over time.

2016-2022: Formula E as home, and endurance racing as a second calling

From 2016-17 da Costa decided to focus on Formula E. He moved to Andretti, competing for two seasons with BMW technical support. The 2017-18 season was his best with that team: second Formula E victory, sixth in the final championship. When BMW confirmed its full factory focus on Formula E, da Costa became an official BMW i Andretti Motorsport driver for 2018-19. It was a season of ups and downs: a promising start, a mid-season decline, sixth in the final standings.

At the end of 2019 da Costa took one of the most important steps of his career: he signed for DS Techeetah, the reigning double Formula E champions. Alongside Jean-Éric Vergne, the Frenchman who had been champion in the two preceding years, he formed the most feared duo in the electric paddock.

The 2019-20 season was historic. Da Costa won in Marrakech in a masterclass of domination. Then came the pandemic pause. When Formula E returned in August 2020 with six races in Berlin, da Costa strung together three consecutive victories, also achieving the first Grand Slam in the championship’s history: pole position, victory, fastest lap and leading the most laps in the same race. He sealed the 2019-20 Formula E title with two races to spare at Berlin, a new early clinching record in the championship. At the end of the season he declared his feelings without filter: there are no words to describe how I feel. I went through some very difficult moments in Formula E, finishing 15th and 16th in the early seasons. This title is the result of all that work.

The following years with DS Techeetah were good but not as dominant. In 2020-21, with the title on his back and the pressure of being the favourite, he managed only one victory though he added podiums and finished well classified. In 2021-22, the last season with DS Techeetah before the team fragmented, he returned to form with pole at Marrakech, a podium there, and a victory in New York City in a poetic close to the Gen2 era of Formula E.

In parallel, da Costa never abandoned his passion for endurance. In 2018 he debuted in the WEC LMGTE Pro class with BMW Team MTEK. In the 2019-20 season, with the move to LMP2 with Jota Sport, a fruitful relationship with long-distance endurance racing began. In the 2021-22 season he achieved the result that every endurance fan carries in memory: the LMP2 class victory at the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside Roberto González and Will Stevens. He was also LMP2 WEC champion that year with his Jota trio.

2022-2025: Porsche, Jaguar and the consolidation of a unique figure

For the 2022-23 Formula E season, the transition to the new Gen3 car and the dissolution of DS Techeetah led da Costa to a new home: TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. The move was successful from the very first moment. Da Costa won in Cape Town the first Formula E race held on African soil, writing a historic page. He finished fifth in the 2022-23 championship with three podiums and that historic victory. In the following season 2023-24, he won twice at Berlin and Portland, again finishing fifth. His 2024-25 season with Porsche was solid but without the brilliance of previous campaigns.

In parallel he stayed connected to endurance. In 2023, with Jota’s transition to Hypercar, he was Porsche 963 driver with Hertz Team JOTA in the WEC Hypercar class for part of the season. In 2025 he competed with AF Corse in LMP2 at Le Mans alongside François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxivière.

At the end of 2025, da Costa left Porsche in Formula E to move to Jaguar TCS Racing, a move that demonstrates that at 33 he remains a top-level driver that the best teams seek. And simultaneously he closed the deal he himself described as one of his main objectives for 2026: the return to the WEC as an official manufacturer driver, this time with Alpine Endurance Team.

2026: Alpine, the #35 and the year of farewell at Imola, Spa, Le Mans and Fuji

The Alpine Endurance Team agreement arrived in October 2025. Da Costa replaces Paul-Loup Chatin in the Alpine A424 number 35, forming a trio with Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, the same pairing that was in the car that won at Fuji in the 2025 season. It is the first time da Costa is an official factory driver in the WEC Hypercar class. And his ambition matches the moment.

His words in the official signing announcement said everything: returning to the WEC was one of my main objectives. I am enormously pleased to do so with Alpine, a brand that is redefining itself in a bold and ambitious way, and now competing at the forefront of endurance racing. The team has been performing at a very high level, and with the first A424 victory recently secured, this is the perfect moment to begin our collaboration. Everyone knows my passion for endurance racing.

Nicolas Lapierre, Alpine’s sporting director and a former racing driver himself, also responded with words that carry weight: António’s profile is exactly what we were looking for. Speed, experience and a thorough knowledge of endurance racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He knows what it takes.

The 2025-26 winter was intense hard work. Alpine completed more than 1,250 kilometres at Portimão in January with the A424 in its definitive 2026 configuration. Then at Motorland Aragón, more than 3,000 additional kilometres in a 24-hour simulated race format that brought all six official drivers together for the first time. In that test, da Costa integrated with a speed that caught the attention of sporting director Lapierre himself: António already plays a key role within the group.

On April 14th, at the Imola Prologue, the Alpine #35 put tyres on track for the first time at the venue hosting the season’s first race. Charles Milesi, one of the car’s drivers, set the seventh fastest time of the morning session among the Hypercars, with Ferrari leading throughout. Alpine’s Prologue position is not that of an outright favourite but clearly a podium contender. Last year at Imola the team finished third. For 2026, with da Costa added to the excellent pairing of Habsburg and Milesi, the objective is higher.

The 2026 WEC calendar awaiting da Costa and Alpine is demanding and exciting. After Imola on April 19th come Spa on May 9th, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13-14th, São Paulo on July 12th, Austin on September 6th, Fuji on September 27th, the postponed Qatar on October 24th and the Bahrain finale on November 7th. It is Alpine’s last season in the WEC Hypercar class. The French manufacturer announced its withdrawal at the end of 2025. Da Costa and his teammates will perform the final act. And they have the ambition to make it the most brilliant one yet.

Key quotes and curiosities

Da Costa in the official Alpine 2026 signing announcement: returning to the WEC was one of my main objectives. I am enormously pleased to do so with Alpine. Everyone knows my passion for endurance racing.

Da Costa after winning the 2019-20 Formula E title in Berlin: there are no words to describe how I feel. I went through some very difficult moments in Formula E, finishing 15th and 16th in the early seasons. A huge thank you to Jean-Éric Vergne for all the help and to everyone at DS Techeetah.

Da Costa as defending champion ahead of the 2020-21 Formula E season: I feel good heading into the season as champion. I am probably not under as much pressure as a result this year so I am in a really good place. I just want to put my helmet on and drive as fast as I can.

Among the curiosities worth highlighting: da Costa’s full name is António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa, a name of clearly aristocratic resonance within the tradition of the Portuguese nobility. The Mello Breyner family name has historical roots among the great families of twentieth-century Portugal, placing da Costa within a very particular cultural tradition.

He lives in Cascais, the coastal city 30 kilometres from Lisbon known as the Portuguese Riviera and famous for its world-class waves. Surfing is his preferred activity to switch off between races. He confirmed it himself in a 2021 interview: surfing in his hometown of Cascais and spending time with his family is the most important way of maintaining his mental and emotional balance before races.

He is co-founder of APEX, a mental wellness and performance platform that he himself uses to prepare mentally for racing, and whose mission is to make elite performance tools accessible to others. He uses the number 13 as his race number in Formula E, considered unlucky in many cultures, chosen precisely for that reason: as a personal challenge to superstition.

He is the first Portuguese driver to win the Formula E championship. He is also the driver with the most races competed in the championship’s history since its first season. And with his LMP2 class victory at Le Mans 2022, he became the fourth Portuguese driver to win at the Circuit de la Sarthe, following in the footsteps of Paulo Gonçalves, Pedro Lamy and Filipe Albuquerque.

Sources: FIA Formula E official fiaformulae.com, FIA WEC official fiawec.com, Alpine Endurance official alpineracingteam.com, Ferrari official ferrari.com, Only Endurance, 24h-lemans.com, Wikipedia António Félix da Costa, Grokipedia, Motorsport.com, Autosport, The Race, GPBlog, Electrek, Formula E Wiki Fandom, Dive-Bomb WEC Season Preview, Pit Debrief, Autohebdo Sport, Autohebdo F1