Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says he would have liked to give Antonio Felix da Costa a chance to race in Formula 1, but never had the opportunity to.
Asked by RaceFans whether he regretted missing the chance to promote any of Red Bull’s junior drivers to F1, Horner said: “I don’t think there’s any any real regrets, the cream always rises to the top.”“I think that maybe it would have been interesting to see what Da Costa could have done in a Formula 1 car,” he added. “But that opportunity never really presented itself.”
Da Costa, who emphatically won this year’s Formula E championship, was previously a member of Red Bull’s Junior Team. He was tipped for a future in Formula 1 following an impressive mid-season switch to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2012, when he beat championship contenders Jules Bianchi and Robin Frijns to win four of the final five races.
His return to the series the following year was not as successful as expected. Nonetheless he won three times on his way to third in the championship behind Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Red Bull passed him over for a promotion to F1, instead placing Daniil Kvyat at its junior squad Toro Rosso in 2014. Da Costa went on to race in the DTM, won the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix and now competes in the World Endurance Championship as well as Formula E.
Last weekend Da Costa finished sixth overall and second in the LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Fellow former Red Bull junior drivers Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley, both of which did race in F1, shared overall victory for Toyota with team mate Kazuki Nakajima.
“The great thing about that is that Red Bull have given this opportunity to so many guys out there,” said Horner, “whether it is Jean-Eric Vergne, Da Costa, Sebastian Buemi – fantastic to see him win the race and indeed he is still supported by Red Bull – all drivers that wouldn’t have had that opportunity if it weren’t for for Red Bull’s support and patronage in their early career days.”
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Hiland (@flyingferrarim)
25th September 2020, 13:40
Horner speaks as if there is no opportunity to bring him in today. Why is it too late to bring him onboard now? You have 4 seats to play with, I’m sure you could make room (provided he wants to go to F1 that is)! Let’s be honest here… Kvyat’s time is ticking in F1 and Gasley will probably finish off his final season next year and move onto another team. If you have no desire to promote to the A team, then why not use one of these seats to try other talents? That is the point of the B team, isn’t it?
Martin (@f1hornet)
25th September 2020, 13:40
I find that statement that the opportunity never presented itself a bit bizarre. As it states in the article, he was probably considered when they went with Kvyat instead, and I’m sure they could have recalled him instead of Hartley into the program if they wanted to. I’m sure the opportunity was there several times, but it sounds to me like Horner wishes he had considered him more seriously at the time given that Kvyat, Hartley, Albon, and Gasly haven’t worked out as well as they might have hoped (some more so than others).
I was fortunate to be at Macau in 2012 when he won, and I think its a shame he hasn’t been given a chance at Torro Rosso/Alpha Tauri.
Daniel K (@binny)
25th September 2020, 18:22
Might be that Horner has less say in the driver selection than we expect. (Or perhaps being polite/politic)
In a couple years, Otmar might be saying, “I would have liked to see what Sergio could have done, had he been able to drive for Aston Martin.”
jlb
25th September 2020, 13:44
An eternity later…
Jose Lopes da Silva
25th September 2020, 13:47
It’s a bit odd, indeed. There had to be good reasons to choose Hartley instead of Da Costa.
Anyway, Red Bull was the launch pad for Da Costa’s international professional career. Something he could not have achieved otherwise, coming from a small economy with no strong sponsoring available. He’s going to have a long and successful career, probably more than any other previous Portuguese driver.
Real criticism for the sport/business current condition should be targeted elsewhere rather than to Red Bull. Or we will end up bashing Red Bull’s drivers choices while praising Mr Stroll because, well, who would not do that for a son.
anon
25th September 2020, 17:24
Jose Lopes da Silva, wasn’t it the case that the actual duration during which he raced in single seater series under Red Bull’s auspices was fairly short?
By the time that they began sponsoring him partway during 2012, he was already into his second full season in GP3 – i.e. he was already competing at an international level, and had been doing so for a couple of years. After 2013, whilst I believe he was still sponsored by Red Bull until he cut all ties in 2016, his level of support from Red Bull was reduced – so it could be argued that he was really only sponsored for a couple of years, and only because he was already established on an international level, rather than becoming established on an international level because of Red Bull.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
25th September 2020, 13:49
Toro Rosso could’ve taken da Costa instead of Kvyat in 2014, he had to face a much tougher field in World Series by Renault in 2013 (Magnussen, Vandoorne etc) compared to Kvyat in 2013 GP3 (Regalia lol).
Dave
25th September 2020, 19:07
And we probably would’ve seen da Costa in 2015 so that Max Verstappen actually debuted later…
Not George
25th September 2020, 14:25
Another case of “whatifery” seeing as though Marko makes the driver decisions.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
25th September 2020, 14:26
Horner is not Marko or Mateschitz. Perhaps he is implying that he wish to see Da Costa in the Alpha Tauri but that he has little influence in who is signed for RB’s sister/daughter team.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
25th September 2020, 14:49
I’m of similar opinion. If big boss says no, Horner has no real say.
joac21 (@joac21)
25th September 2020, 14:45
Starting to think horner has no say in RB seats, maybe it’s only Marko call ??
Rott
25th September 2020, 15:05
Ok. So give him the seat then. Scared Max will be exposed?!?
Esploratore (@esploratore)
25th September 2020, 21:40
Verstappen is as good as schumacher or anyone in the current grid, so the better da costa is the better for red bull, not sure why they didn’t try him out, especially when the alternative was hartley…
Steve K
25th September 2020, 15:30
Don’t worry about the ones you missed, worry about the ones you got. I believe Mr. Horner understands this. He was just asked a question.
T3kn0z
25th September 2020, 21:28
The cream always rises to the top???? They made a torpedo in 2014… and ended AFC career by putting him in the DTM. Strange way to manage a single seater racer career. OH, and Vettel tried to bring him to Ferrari as a test driver, and imagine who cut off is legs???
Anyway, i´m happy to see AFC doing well in all kind of machinery he puts is hands on. That my friends, is REAL talent. Most of all, is an example to never give up. The F1 dream is over, and he as admitted that, so he fought back in other categories. The F1 dreams are only for rich kids, or with good connections. This sports is dying, because of the politics evolved.
Don
14th October 2020, 16:10
He’s testing an IndyCar in November.