F1
As Red Bull Junior Team reveals its 2015 line-up, we meet recent graduate António Félix da Costa.
Formula One test driver, DTM and Formula E star António Félix da Costa looks back on his journey from karting in his native Portugal to becominga top driver, via the Red Bull Junior Team.
If you had to thank just one person for helping you get where you are, who would it be and why? My dad. When you start racing, you have good times and bad times. If their sons fail, most parents say ‘OK, you've had your fun, but it didn’t work out. Now go back to study’. My father always said to me ‘Well, you had a bad day but don’t give up. Keep pushing’. He always believed in me, not only in my talent but also as a way of building my own career. The trips, the troubles, the talking to sponsors to get enough budget is very hard for a father. So if I get bad results, it’s also bad for him, as he’s always been by my side. So he’s the person who influenced me the most.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? [Infiniti Red Bull Racing advisor] Dr Helmut Marko gives great advice, but it usually comes in the shape of a warning. For instance, when you go to a new team he'll say: ‘You're going there to drive, not to make friends’. That means you have to be nice, but, if needed, you also have to be hard on them, to drive them and motivate them. Dr Marko is a tough man. He tells you when you screw up, but also tells you when you've done a good job, and he’ll be sincere about that. He's always clear in what he says; you won’t have to read between the lines – and I like that.
Meet the Red Bull Junior Team's class of 2015
If you had the time to take up a new hobby what would it be and why? I’d like to do a Dakar Rally. I like going off-road – I’ve some MX bikes – so that’s perfect. If I was young enough, I’d try and do it on two wheels as those are the real heroes. If I was older, then I’d take the car and go toe-to-toe with Carlos Sainz! (laughs). I’ve always been drawn to racing cars in the dirt and off-road. I follow the TV, the live times and my country has some good riders too (Paulo Gonçalves, Hélder Rodrigues or Rubén Faría). It’s a big thing.
Apart from your job, what subject do you know a lot about that interviewers never ask you? I love surfing. I really love the ASP World Tour. Portugal is a good country for that, so that’s something most people in the racing world don’t know about me.
What's been your lowest point and what did you learn from it? I was in GP3 in 2011 and for the first time my team-mate was beating me – and he was beating me by a mile. It was my dad, again, who came to me and motivated me to change and improve and fight, and I ended up winning races. Now I’m having a tough time in the DTM. I’m not getting the results, but I know how to drive and I keep pushing so the results will come, eventually.
What's more important – money or glory? Glory. Money matters, of course. All elite athletes also want to make a living off their sweat, blood and tears, but in the end if you’re not winning, you’re not having fun either. And you have to enjoy yourself, that’s the most important thing.
What's been your most hard fought win, the one you thought you might not pull off? Macau in 2012. Most people don’t know how hard it is to drive there. Plus, I hadn’t raced an F3 car for eight months and I had to jump in and race my ass off. I expected to be competitive but not to win. I got pole, won on Saturday, but it doesn’t count for anything, and I found myself on pole for the main race. And yeah, I pulled it off, amazingly. I lead all F3 laps that year and I didn’t touch any barrier or any wall at all, and Macau is not a place where you can afford any mistakes. There’s even a section, going uphill, where you have to changes gears constantly, so you only have one hand on the wheel. But I managed not to touch a single thing.
What was the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome? Every race is a challenge. A hard moment was when I was told I wouldn’t go to F1 at the end of 2013. For a month, I lost my motivation but then I went to Macau and was second, after winning in 2012, as I explained. That brought me back. Then I did the DTM test and found it to be a great discipline, with a lot of highly professional people.
What’s the best circuit/place you’ve raced on? Macau! F3 and Macau are a perfect match. The car’s not too big and the track not too small and you can bring the machine to the real limit.
Who or what always makes you laugh? Friends! I have three friends since I was six and whether I do well or bad in racing, they always make me laugh and bring me back down to earth, they don’t let me be a prima donna, and we always have a good laugh.
What three items do you pack in your bag every time you head off to a race? My laptop, good sports magazines and my headphones.
What keeps you grounded? The hard times in racing: the bad results, the lack of budget and the fight for it, the sacrifices my family had to make to help me get right here, right now… I know how hard it was and that makes me thankful for what I have.
What’s the favourite part of your training regime? Training itself. I used to hate training when I was in karting, and also when I was at the FR 2.0, but then I realized when I started in F3 that I had to be fit, even if just to turn the wheel! From then on, I love going to the gym, especially the exercises related to driving. It’s essential to train the heart and the mind to control yourself at high speeds.
What’s your guiltiest pleasure? I don’t have many. Basically, it’d be switching off once the season is over.
Who’s your best friend in the sport? I have a few, but I’d say Kevin Magnussen. We raced together for three years and we crashed into each other several times, but that made us better friends. I can sleep at his house, he can sleep at mine and I’m very happy he got to F1 and got some good results. Now we’ll see what the future holds, but I’m still glad for him.
What's your favourite room in your house? I recently moved house and I set up a simulator with some screens in the basement. I use it a lot, for fun and for work as I had to learn new tracks with the DTM. It’s like my sanctuary.
How long does it take you to recover from an event? I treat Monday as a part of the weekend, killing all remains from the weekend – tension, negativity – so I can go to the next race with a clean slate. Generally, I go to the gym and have the hardest session of the week. Then I rest on Tuesday and, maybe, Wednesday.
You get a day off – no PR commitments, no training, no phone, no email, no family commitments. How would you spend the day? I live in Cascais [in the south of Portugal], a very nice place and surfing is one of my ways of spending time on my own. It’s hard to fully disconnect but I try.
How has your life changed since you made it to the top level in your sport? In so many ways, but Red Bull allowed me to become a professional racing driver. Their history says it all. And I’m very grateful for the chance they’ve given me. On the bad side, the only thing I can think of is not spending enough time with my family and friends. It’d be easier to count the days I’m not at home than those I am (laughs)
Follow Da Costa season in Formula E with Amlin Aguri.
