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António Felix da Costa aka "Formiga" (the ant) - F1 hopeful?


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#1 noikeee

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 11:04

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Time for his thread, no? Getting a bit of genuine hype now after 2 great weekends in the World Series by Renault, particularly this one in the rain in Paul Ricard. Also had a title challenge in GP3 even if that didn't come right.

Having been signed mid-season to Red Bull was a huge breakthrough as he's now next in line when a Toro Rosso F1 opening comes available. I remember 5 years ago when we (Portugal) had 2 drivers going up in the feeder series: Alvaro Parente and Filipe Albuquerque. Parente had the results and the talent, winning both the Brit F3 and WSR titles. Albuquerque seemed slightly less talented (altho had been Euro FR2.0 champion) but was part of Red Bull's lineup. Felix da Costa is the fusion of both: very quick like Parente and now with the right connections like Albuquerque. I also get the impression he's stronger mentally than both of them - Parente eventually got his fair shot in GP2 but squandered it.

I'm hoping that in 1 or 2 years time he'll finally become the next Portuguese driver after his own manager Tiago Monteiro. Needs to keep delivering though as Red Bull won't tolerate any shortcomings in results! I also rate both Vergne and Ricciardo and think both are cancelling each other's chance to look good, Red Bull may be ruthless but aren't stupid to throw them away without giving them a serious assessment. So António will have to keep looking special to get that F1 seat.

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#2 Man of the race

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 11:27

Yes - and no. It may be a bit premature to dedicate an own topic for him in an F1 centred forum. Don't feel disappointed, if there won't be any posts during the next months. It is really up to the next year. If good results still keep coming, there will be more talk about him and eventually more fuss around him. At lower racing levels, the news tend to be more local than global. As a portugese (I guess), maybe you can update his news here now and then, especially if there are F1 related news - or rumors, as those are what this forums lives from and sometimes eat alive.

That said, his current performance and learning curve has somewhat impressed me. What series will he participate in 2013? 3,5 or GP2? I see no point staying at GP3 level any longer.

Edited by Man of the race, 01 October 2012 - 11:43.


#3 cleobis

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 13:18

Hi, I'll add up to the comments!! He really has impressed me, I think he lacks our (Portuguese) worst defect: thinking others are allways better...hehe...I think joining the Red Bull program has given him a more settled mind that has allowed him to better think his races....at the begining of the year he was allways in full attack mode and that lost him valuable points in the first half of the season (gp3) that otherwise would have allowed him to easily clinch the title...

Also, he is driving for Red Bull at Abu Dhabi!! :)

#4 dau

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 13:19

I think he's going to stay in FR3.5 to go for the title next year. Red Bull hasn't shown any interest in GP2 since Buemi's stint at Arden and there's no point promoting him to F1.

He has been impressive this year, i agree. Not so sure about his GP3 results though - a third place after two years and some races there in 2009 seems a bit underwhelming. Will definitely be interesting to watch what he can do next season.

#5 BackmarkerUK

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 13:31

The Red Bull Junior Team is pretty poisonous to promising careers, and Marko expects quick results at junior levels. I think he should get off to a good start next year (and there's the possibility of an F1 drive in 2014 to motivate him), but if he doesn't, he could get added to the Red Bull scrapheap.

#6 KateLM

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 14:00

I think he definitely has talent and has been very impressive in FR3.5. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get a shot at Toro Rosso at some point but beyond that I'm not sure - the Red Bull programme hasn't proven to work out well for anyone except Vettel. And he's the standard that Marko insists the others live up to, regardless of how unrealistic that is.

I think he has to be the favourite for the FR3.5 title next year. As for GP3...a couple of early mistakes cost him dearly but his speed was never the problem. If I was an F1 team principal and I had to pick one of the title contenders for a drive next year then I'd go for him any day. However, he is the eldest of the 4 - he's 3 years older than Evans, who won the title, and I'm not sure that he was as good as Evans is now when he was 18. He was also the most experienced at that level (and probably outside it too). So who knows.

Maybe GP3 wasn't quite for him, Yelloly was completely anonymous in those cars too.

As for next year - no chance that it will be GP2, Red Bull haven't ran anyone in that for years and I don't see them starting again now.

#7 noikeee

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 14:05

Think he's doing WSR next year, yeah. That's what Red Bull drivers always do.

As for Red Bull being poisonous, well they are, but it's much much better than no connections, which was what he had. I'm sure a driver like Buemi will be bitter he was tossed away quickly, but how would he have made it to F1 at all without them?

#8 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 14:08

Exactly. If the choice is between no chance and a difficult chance, well duh...

#9 noikeee

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 14:37

Also even if you get dumped you could still have broken the door into a F1 career, which is what Liuzzi did and what Alguersuari apparently will do.

#10 DanardiF1

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 15:50

I believe he's already done YDT's for Force India? Seems like he's finding his feet in single seaters and could be a bigger prospect for the future than initially thought..

#11 JRodrigues

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 15:56

I believe he's already done YDT's for Force India? Seems like he's finding his feet in single seaters and could be a bigger prospect for the future than initially thought..


Yes he did. And with his best time, how would have qualified 10th for the race on that weekend (although the track had more rubber).

edit: forget what I said. I remember something about this at the time, but I checked it and I was full o.s. :| That would be 15th (1:41.381) ahead of Liuzzi (1:41.642)

YDT: http://www.formula1....0/11/11547.html
Qualifying: http://www.formula1..../2010/841/6806/

Edited by JRodrigues, 01 October 2012 - 16:05.


#12 Jackman

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:03

He's had a good year with a strong run in GP3 and a decent go in WSR, along with being picked up by Red Bull - he had the strength of mind (and money) to tell them he was staying in GP3 when they wanted him to pull out, and his best results came after that call, so that's a positive. And he's a good kid too, very popular in the paddock, and fast. Staying with Carlin next year in WSR should give him a title run, he's got a few F1 tests lined up - he's got to be a decent chance to get to F1.

#13 Junky

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:18

It's highly probable that he will be present in the young drivers test. That is more than secure. What we don't now is if he will drive a Red Bull or Toro Rosso.

His level of commitment right now is very big. Actually he is now living in Milton Keynes!

He also wants to win Macau. Last year he was on pole position, when the first gear broke at the start.

Edited by Junky, 01 October 2012 - 16:19.


#14 Taxi

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:39

It's very dificult for a portuguese to get to F1. He must be very very talented to make it even to Toro Rosso. I mean Valteri Botas/Ricciardo talented like at least. Red Bull has more candidates to those places, one of witch is Carlos Sainz jr much more marketable than a simple ant. I find it almost impossible. Lets hope I'm wrong.

#15 Zava

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:46

It's very dificult for a portuguese to get to F1. He must be very very talented to make it even to Toro Rosso. I mean Valteri Botas/Ricciardo talented like at least. Red Bull has more candidates to those places, one of witch is Carlos Sainz jr much more marketable than a simple ant. I find it almost impossible. Lets hope I'm wrong.

but Sainz is behind da Costa on the 'development curve'. it will be something like this:

2013: da Costa full time WSR, expectation is winning the title, or at least being a close 2nd, Sainz jr staying in british F3 for another year to win it, maybe gets a half time promotion to WSR if he's looking good enough in F3.
2014: the better of the current STR duo gets the 2nd seat in RB (yeah, I still hope Vettel is not going anywhere close to ferrari), da Costa gets the 2nd STR seat, Sainz jr full time WSR driver.
2015 (?) : if the one of the Vergne-Ricciardo pair that satyed in STR is beaten by da Costa, they'll probably drop him in favour of Sainz jr, if he did really well in WSR.

Edited by Zava, 01 October 2012 - 16:47.


#16 olliek88

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:57

Antonio is a strange case, started off pretty damn impressively in Formula Renault before moving to GP3 last year and looked pretty average, then had an iffy start to this season and could easily of slipped off the radar, got picked up by Red Bull and hasn't looked back since, his adaptation to WSR has been seriously impressive.

Met the lad on the way out of Monza on the Friday, wished him luck for the weekend and he duly said "thanks, thank you very much!" but i don't think his luck could of been much worse! Seemed like a genuine bloke and really rooting for him now.

#17 Taxi

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 16:57

but Sainz is behind da Costa on the 'development curve'. it will be something like this:

2013: da Costa full time WSR, expectation is winning the title, or at least being a close 2nd, Sainz jr staying in british F3 for another year to win it, maybe gets a half time promotion to WSR if he's looking good enough in F3.
2014: the better of the current STR duo gets the 2nd seat in RB (yeah, I still hope Vettel is not going anywhere close to ferrari), da Costa gets the 2nd STR seat, Sainz jr full time WSR driver.
2015 (?) : if the one of the Vergne-Ricciardo pair that satyed in STR is beaten by da Costa, they'll probably drop him in favour of Sainz jr, if he did really well in WSR.

Sometimes, the driver behind gets at the same time to F1 like Vergne/Ricciardo.




#18 Zava

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 17:03

Sometimes, the driver behind gets at the same time to F1 like Vergne/Ricciardo.

but that was because Ricciardo didn't get promoted right after his championship runner up year, also Vergne won f3 unlike Sainz jr, who will need 2 more years to be at the top in the RB junior steps, unless he gets promoted to WSR for next year.
(also, Ricciardo did half of 2011 in the HRT, better than nothing.;))

#19 ashley313

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 17:10

I've been watching FDC for awhile now, and I'm hugely impressed. In young drivers its not always most important to look at results, but to look at how they progress over a weekend, how they learn, do they make the same mistakes repeatedly? How do they recover from problems? How do they handle fluctuating media attention? For fdc the answers to all of those are pretty positive. He's prett consistent in building over a session let alone the weekend - and that's something that is important in f1, a rhythm. He also has a lot of straight talent - very impressed with his ability to pull out a big lap when it's needed. See a lot of SV in him, hope to see him at STR in 2014.

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#20 Taxi

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 17:35

I've been watching FDC for awhile now, and I'm hugely impressed. In young drivers its not always most important to look at results, but to look at how they progress over a weekend, how they learn, do they make the same mistakes repeatedly? How do they recover from problems? How do they handle fluctuating media attention? For fdc the answers to all of those are pretty positive. He's prett consistent in building over a session let alone the weekend - and that's something that is important in f1, a rhythm. He also has a lot of straight talent - very impressed with his ability to pull out a big lap when it's needed. See a lot of SV in him, hope to see him at STR in 2014.





Sure hope you'r right. :cool:




#21 Baddoer

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Posted 01 October 2012 - 19:56

:down:

#22 Chubby_Deuce

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 00:55

:down:


:lol:

#23 the9th

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 16:05

:lol:

Yes, I concur, and we can all agree he's the driver of the moment(um). I've heard repeatedly that the wsr 3.5 was leaps and bounds over the gp2 field and the guy being a rookie (with almost half a season deficit in a team that was under performing) has got to be proud of what he's achieved this year so far.

#24 Jackman

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 16:15

Let's not get too carried away: the guys at the sharp end of WSR are still the guys who couldn't win in GP2 when they were there, and a rookie.

#25 Chubby_Deuce

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 16:24

Yes, I concur, and we can all agree he's the driver of the moment(um). I've heard repeatedly that the wsr 3.5 was leaps and bounds over the gp2 field and the guy being a rookie (with almost half a season deficit in a team that was under performing) has got to be proud of what he's achieved this year so far.


Oh I don't know anything about the guy, it's hard to follow anything lower than GP2 in The States. I just thought it was a funny and articulate reply.

#26 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 18:36

Amazing how underrated Bird and Bianchi suddenly are now that they're in WSR :p

#27 Prost1997T

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 18:51

Amazing how underrated Bird and Bianchi suddenly are now that they're in WSR :p


Bianchi's already had two GP2 seasons under his belt. Sam Bird has a similar amount of experience (except he hasn't won any major open wheel championships). For da Costa to be challenging them immediately with a lot less time at this level is impressive.

Edited by Prost1997T, 02 October 2012 - 18:51.


#28 the9th

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 19:52

Oh I don't know anything about the guy, it's hard to follow anything lower than GP2 in The States. I just thought it was a funny and articulate reply.

Articulate maybe. Funny? I don't know, he kinda lost me on the 5th paragraph there...

#29 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 20:50

Bianchi's already had two GP2 seasons under his belt. Sam Bird has a similar amount of experience (except he hasn't won any major open wheel championships). For da Costa to be challenging them immediately with a lot less time at this level is impressive.


Likewise Frijns.

#30 Prost1997T

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Posted 02 October 2012 - 21:48

Likewise Frijns.


Yeah, I was going to say that, but then he goes and loses a ton of ground to Bianchi at Paul Ricard :drunk: oh well, he'll bounce back.

#31 cleobis

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Posted 04 October 2012 - 21:18

Antonio is doing a roadshow with Red Bull in Korea at the Jamsu bridge. He will drive the RB7. The event will take place Saturday 6th October.
:)

#32 Sanman59

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 10:33

Antonio is doing a roadshow with Red Bull in Korea at the Jamsu bridge. He will drive the RB7. The event will take place Saturday 6th October.
:)



Expect him to turn up at HRT in 2013 in a similar deal to that which took Ricciardo there in 2011.

:smoking:

#33 Taxi

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 15:38

Expect him to turn up at HRT in 2013 in a similar deal to that which took Ricciardo there in 2011.

:smoking:





That would be awesome. No way it's gonna happen. He's not even wining WSR.




#34 olliek88

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 16:09

That would be awesome. No way it's gonna happen. He's not even wining WSR.


:lol:

Have you been watching WSR this season?

#35 Taxi

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 18:53

:lol:

Have you been watching WSR this season?





Erm... no. :confused: :blush:




#36 olliek88

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 19:07

Erm... no. :confused: :blush:


Well Ant joined mid season (whilst still running in GP3) and has won 2 races, been on the podium in another 2 and scored over double the points of his more experienced team mate Rossi with 3 less weekends. He looks pretty good at the moment, i think a full season next year means he has to be a title favourite.

#37 ashley313

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 20:21

I do know he doesnt have any plans for next year yet. His management was working on their presentation just this week. I would think he'd have many options with that RB money.

#38 Taxi

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Posted 05 October 2012 - 21:07

Well Ant joined mid season (whilst still running in GP3) and has won 2 races, been on the podium in another 2 and scored over double the points of his more experienced team mate Rossi with 3 less weekends. He looks pretty good at the moment, i think a full season next year means he has to be a title favourite.

Wow . Thats impressive then . Hoje he gets there . Will he be in the final Abu dhabi test?

#39 cleobis

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Posted 06 October 2012 - 02:05

Wow . Thats impressive then . Hoje he gets there . Will he be in the final Abu dhabi test?


He will be driving for Red Bull at the Abu Dhabi test. Meanwhile, here are some pics from Korea this weekend :)

Posted Image

Posted Image

Posted Image

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#40 the9th

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Posted 06 October 2012 - 14:03

Nice! Keep us posted. ;)

#41 Man of the race

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Posted 06 October 2012 - 18:13

Since this is soon-to-become the Official Non-constructive Comment Posting Day, I will contribute and ask whose idea was to take poses with an F1 car on a lawn? A lawn.

#42 cleobis

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Posted 07 October 2012 - 08:11

Here are a couple of videos of the demo at Korea:

Korea Red Bull Demo AFC 1

Korea Red Bull Demo AFC 2

:)

#43 D.M.N.

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:10

If Ricciardo or Vergne have bad performances in the last four races, I wouldn't be surprised if Toro Rosso give Da Costa a call for 2013. Looks like the making of a future world champion.

#44 olliek88

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:11

Tricky one for Da Costa and Red Bull now, i hope sense prevails and they don't give him FP1 time during the WSR season next year and let him focus on that, give him loads of KMs in the young driver tests but i hope they don't throw him in too early. Big talent though.

#45 Ravenak

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:14

If Ricciardo or Vergne have bad performances in the last four races, I wouldn't be surprised if Toro Rosso give Da Costa a call for 2013. Looks like the making of a future world champion.

:rotfl:

#46 noikeee

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:14

Bump. What a way to finish the season. :cool:

The pressure will be really high now for next season though. Assuming he continues on WSR which is what I expect.

#47 aray

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:14

If Ricciardo or Vergne have bad performances in the last four races, I wouldn't be surprised if Toro Rosso give Da Costa a call for 2013. Looks like the making of a future world champion.

would be a bad call i believe....this year has been amazing for da costa....but he need to show continuity...another year in Fr3.5 or GP2 debut are the best options...

#48 D.M.N.

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:17

:rotfl:

I'm not kidding, so no need for the smiley. Red Bull have been known to make rash decisions (remember Alguersuari in mid 2009?). I wouldn't say it is an impossible move.

would be a bad call i believe....this year has been amazing for da costa....but he need to show continuity...another year in Fr3.5 or GP2 debut are the best options...

Agreed completely with this though.

#49 Yhamm

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:17

Tricky one for Da Costa and Red Bull now, i hope sense prevails and they don't give him FP1 time during the WSR season next year and let him focus on that, give him loads of KMs in the young driver tests but i hope they don't throw him in too early. Big talent though.

Maybe they will do like they did with Vergne. He only had FP1 in Korea when the 3.5 championship was over

#50 Ravenak

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Posted 21 October 2012 - 14:28

I'm not kidding, so no need for the smiley. Red Bull have been known to make rash decisions (remember Alguersuari in mid 2009?). I wouldn't say it is an impossible move.


The smiley was for the fact that you judge a driver like this on a mere "okay" achievement.

He just lead the race to the win, didn't do any magic Turkish Hamilton delight...

And yes, his season was fine, but not subliminal.

Edited by Ravenak, 21 October 2012 - 14:29.