Da Costa Stepping Away from WEC in 2024

Antonio Felix da Costa will not return to Hertz Team JOTA’s Hypercar lineup next year as the Portuguese driver steps away from FIA World Endurance Championship competition.

Da Costa confirmed in a post on social media that he will move away from WEC next year, although he hinted that it will be a temporary departure by saying ‘this is not a goodbye, just a see you later.’

The 32-year-old forms part of Porsche’s lineup in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the Berlin E-Prix on May 11 set to clash with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Da Costa made his WEC debut at Spa in 2018, sharing a BMW M8 GTE with Augusto Farfus as part of the German manufacturer’s GTE-Pro program.

After leaving BMW, he joined JOTA for the 2019-20 campaign and would go on to forge a successful relationship with the British squad across four seasons.

Together with Anthony Davidson and Roberto Gonzalez, he took his first WEC win with class victory in the 2019 4 Hours of Shanghai and won again in the 8 Hours of Portimao two years later.

In 2022, Da Costa and Gonzalez, joined by Will Stevens, took a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans before capturing the LMP2 title at the end of the season.

Stevens and Da Costa then remained with JOTA as it graduated to the Hypercar class and became the first customer team to race the Porsche 963.

JOTA is set to add a second 963 to its stable next year, with a variety of ex-F1 drivers having been linked to the team in recent weeks.