Da Costa hit with Marrakesh Formula E grid drop
Antonio Felix da Costa will drop three places on the starting grid for Formula E's Marrakesh E-Prix on Saturday afternoon after the stewards found he exceeded the permitted power usage limit during part of qualifying.
Da Costa arrived in Marrakesh leading the Formula E drivers' championship for the first time after taking pole and victory at the season-opening race in Saudi Arabia, and was due to start P3 behind Jean-Eric Vergne and pole-sitter Sam Bird at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan.
Antonio Felix da Costa will drop three places on the starting grid for Formula E's Marrakesh E-Prix on Saturday afternoon after the stewards found he exceeded the permitted power usage limit during part of qualifying.
Da Costa arrived in Marrakesh leading the Formula E drivers' championship for the first time after taking pole and victory at the season-opening race in Saudi Arabia, and was due to start P3 behind Jean-Eric Vergne and pole-sitter Sam Bird at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan.
However, the stewards confirmed midway through qualifying that the BMW driver would be required to see them after the session, with a penalty being confirmed ahead of the start of the race.
The stewards confirmed da Costa had exceeded the power limit of 200 kW during his out lap in the Super Pole session before completing his full power 250 kW hot lap that had put him third on the grid.
As a result, da Costa's Super Pole lap is invalidated, causing him to drop behind Sebastien Buemi, BMW teammate Alexander Sims and Mitch Evans on the starting grid for the race.
FIA Formula E Marrakesh E-Prix - Starting Grid
1. Sam Bird GBR Envision Virgin Racing
2. Jean-Eric Vergne FRA DS Techeetah
3. Sebastien Buemi SUI Nissan e.dams
4. Alexander Sims GBR BMW i Andretti Motorsport
5. Mitch Evans NZL Panasonic Jaguar Racing
6. Antonio Felix da Costa POR BMW i Andretti Motorsport
7. Pascal Wehrlein GER Mahindra Racing
8. Robin Frijns NED Envision Virgin Racing
9. Nelson Piquet Jr. BRA Panasonic Jaguar Racing
10. Jerome d’Ambrosio BEL Mahindra Racing
11. Lucas di Grassi BRA Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
12. Oliver Rowland GBR Nissan e.dams
13. Jose Maria Lopez ARG GEOX Dragon
14. Oliver Turvey GBR NIO Formula E Team
15. Felipe Massa BRA Venturi Formula E Team
16. Daniel Abt GER Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler
17. Edoardo Mortara SUI Venturi Formula E Team
18. Tom Dillmann FRA NIO Formula E Team
19. Gary Paffett GBR HWA Racelab
20. Andre Lotterer BEL DS Techeetah
21. Maximilian Gunther GER GEOX Dragon
22. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL HWA Racelab
