Strong recovery performance on the streets of Rome goes unrewarded for MS&AD Andretti Formula E team.

Rome. BMW works driver Félix da Costa (POR) put in an impressive recovery performance in the seventh race of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Rome (ITA). Watched by Klaus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development and BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, the MS&AD Andretti Formula E team Portuguese driver fought his way up through the field after starting from last place on the grid. Félix da Costa reached the top-ten after his pit stop but fell back during the closing phase of the first Rome E-Prix, crossing the line in 11^th place. After 33 laps, his team-mate Tom Blomqvist (GBR) finished in 15^th position.

Félix da Costa had started the race from 20^th place after an unfortunate collision during qualifying, while Blomqvist secured 12^th position in the qualifying session. The next event is scheduled to take place in two weeks’ time: the Paris E-Prix will be held in the French capital on 28^th April.

Reactions on the Rome E-Prix

António Félix da Costa, MS&AD Andretti Formula E, 11^th place: “It was a good recovery during the race after the incident in qualifying when we had to start the race from the very last position. We chose an aggressive strategy by doing a short first stint. I overtook a lot of cars and used the energy very well. We knew that the second stint would be hard because we had less energy than the others but we came home just short of scoring points in 11^th. I think we showed that we had some potential to score some solid points this weekend. We take the positives and go to the next one.”

Tom Blomqvist, MS&AD Andretti Formula E, 15^th place: “It was a difficult race. I was hit from behind and spun around on the second lap which put me into last place. Then we ran out of energy on the last lap before coming in for the pit stop and got stuck in the pit lane. We lost a lot of time there. Basically from there the race was extremely compromised and it was pretty disappointing not being able to have a clean run. That would have been nice after a decent qualifying.”

The BMW i Fleet

BMW i is once again “Official Vehicle Partner” of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Season 4. Spearheading the BMW i fleet is the new BMW i8 Coupé, modified with BMW M components (combined fuel consumption: 1.9 l/100 km; combined energy consumption 14.0 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 42 g/km)*. As well as the BMW i8 Coupé, the BMW i fleet for the ABB Formula E Championship also includes the new BMW i3s (combined fuel consumption: 0.0 l/100 km; combined energy consumption: 14.3 kWh; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)* as “Medical Car” and “Race Director Car”, and the BMW X5 xDrive40e (combined fuel consumption: 3.4 – 3.3 l/100 km; combined energy consumption: 15.4 to 15.3 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 78 – 77 g/km)* in its role as “Rescue Car”. 

* The fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions figures shown were determined according to the European Regulation (EC) 715/2007 in the version applicable at the time of type approval. The figures refer to a vehicle with basic configuration in Germany and the range shown considers the different size of the selected wheels and tires.

The CO₂ efficiency specifications are determined according to Directive 1999/94/EC and the Pkw-EnVKV, and based (for classification) on the fuel consumption and CO₂ values as per the NEDC cycle.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and specific CO₂ emission values of new passenger cars is included in the following guideline: “Leitfaden über Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO₂-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen” (Guideline for fuel consumption, CO₂ emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars), which can be obtained free of charge from all dealerships and at https://www.dat.de/en/offers/publications/guideline-for-fuel-consumption.html.