After several spectacular performances in GP3 last season, Red Bull youngster Antonio Felix Da Costa has taken one more step towards Formula One. The Portuguese star will act as Red Bull reserve driver for the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, after reserve regular Sebastian Buemi, will be absent from the weekend.
Antonio certainly has an excellent portfolio. He joined Red Bull's young driver programme at the midway point of last season, after some stunning performances in GP3. His campaign did not suffer as a result of the added pressure and the youngster finished in a very respectable third place, behind Mitch Evans and Daniel Abt in the championship.In addition to his excellent GP3 performances, the Portuguese star attracted attention during the Young Drivers Test in Abu Dhabi. He managed to top the timesheet on the third day and Red Bull expressed their appreciation of how efficiently Antonio was able to bring vital information to the engineers. It was an invaluable experience for Da Costa and the other rookies involved.
Currently, Da Costa is competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 series and still continues to shine. The opportunity to fill in for Sebastian Buemi has come as a result of the Frenchman attending the the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone. While Da Costa is unlikely to make a debut appearance during the weekend, it will no doubt prove to be an invaluable learning experience for him. He will be able to gauge how a top tier team negotiate a race weekend.
Toro Rosso will keep a close eye on Da Costa who will probably join either them or Red Bull in 2014. That is, of course, if a certain Aussie decides to hang up his racing boots at his contract end.
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