FIA deliver Porsche Da Costa appeal verdict

The FIA International Court of Appeal has rejected Porsche's appeal following Antonio Felix da Costa's disqualification from the Misano E-Prix earlier this year. 

Da Costa had won the opening round of the Misano double-header, but was disqualified several hours later following a technical infraction. 

The technical infraction surrounded a Throttle Damper Spring mounted on the Portuguese driver's car, which was found to not be in conformity. 

Specifically, da Costa was disqualified as his car was in breach of of Article 27.10 of the Sporting Regulations and Article 3.3 of the Technical Regulations.

Porsche quickly opted to appeal the decision, with the case having been heard on the 7th June by the International Court of Appeal. 

Following a chance to evaluate the Stuttgart-based team's evidence, the FIA released the following statement: "The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, decided to uphold Decision No. 31 dated 13 April 2024 of the Stewards of the Misano E-Prix event in Italy counting towards the 2023/2024 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

"The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Laurent ANSELMI (Monaco), and included, Mr Michael GRECH (Malta), Mr Marek MALECKI (Poland) and Mr Filippo MARCHINO (USA/Italy)."

With Porsche's appeal having been upheld, da Costa remains 83 points off championship leader Nick Cassidy, effectively ruling him out of title contention. 

Had Porsche's appeal been successful, he would have been within 60 points of the Jaguar driver and a title outsider.