Da Costa Loses Front Row Start

Antonio Felix da Costa has lost his front-row starting position for this afternoon’s Mexico City E-Prix after his Andretti Formula E entry was found to be underweight following Super Pole.

Da Costa will now start from fourth position on the grid after the stewards canceled his Super Pole time for coming in under the 880 kgs weight limit.

The Portuguese driver only loses two positions on the starting grid because his weight check after the initial qualifying period was correct.

Team principal Roger Griffiths told e-racing365 that he was “perplexed” by the anomaly.

“The car is held in Parc Ferme conditions between the session and we can’t touch it, so we are perplexed,” he said.

This is the second time that da Costa has lost a front-row starting position as he was also sanctioned for a tire pressure irregularity at the Long Beach E-Prix in 2016 when driving for Team Aguri.

The penalty means that Oliver Turvey will start in second position for NIO, while Sebastien Buemi moves up to third.

The race gets underway at 4 p.m. CT.