António Félix da Costa

ABOUT ANTÓNIO

António Félix da Costa continues in 2015 as Infiniti Red Bull Racing's test driver. Once again he will combine his role here with a full DTM programme, racing for BMW, and also continue his association with Amlin Aguri in the Formula E championship.

As with the rest of our driver roster, António is a graduate of the Red Bull Junior Team. He began his career in karts, winning a string of domestic titles in Portugal and taking a coveted factory drive with Tony Kart, where he enjoyed more success. Moving into single-seater racing for 2008 he prospered in Formula Renault 2.0. After a learning season, Félix da Costa dominated the 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, comfortably winning the title with nine victories from the 14 races he entered.

For 2010 António transferred to Formula 3, competing in the Euro Series and finishing the year with three victories and a drive for Force India at the Formula One Young Drivers' Test at Yas Marina. 2011 saw a move into GP3, racing for Status Grand Prix and catching the eye with a rookie victory at Monza. A year later Félix da Costa joined the Red Bull Junior Team, continuing his progress in GP3, finishing the year in third place but also enjoying an eye-opening cameo in FR3.5 where, despite missing the first five races of the year, he still managed to finish the season fourth overall, winning four of the last six races.

Proving adept at adapting to different machinery, he drove the RB8 at Yas Marina in the Young Drivers' Test before heading to Macau where he took victory from pole position in the Macau Grand Prix ¬– the first Portuguese driver to win the race since it became the Formula 3 showpiece.

For 2013 António combined Formula Renault 3.5 with a testing role here at Infiniti Red Bull Racing. He finished the junior championship in third place, winning at Monza, the Hungaroring and Paul Ricard, while in F1 he drove the RB9 at the Silverstone Young Drivers' Test and gained valuable grand prix experience as Red Bull's official reserve driver during several race weekends. That continued in 2014, where António deputised for Sébastien Buemi when the latter was otherwise occupied with the World Endurance Championship.

With the current generation of Formula One cars more technically challenging than any that have gone before, António 's experience and precise feedback make him an invaluable member of the Infiniti Red Bull Racing team.