» More seats filled for Formula E season

Two more seats in this year’s inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship have been claimed. Red Bull protégé António Félix da Costa has been announced as Katherine Legge’s teammate in the Amlin Aguri line-up, while IndyCar race-winner Mike Conway has been announced as the first of Dragon Racing’s two drivers.

Twenty-two-year-old da Costa (pictured above left) is widely considered to be one of the up-and-coming racing drivers of his generation. The Portuguese driver won the 2012 Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix after a stellar season racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. His Red Bull connections subsequently led to a number of F1 test outings, but he was surprisingly overlooked for a seat a Scuderia Toro Rosso this year in favour of Daniil Kvyat.

Despite missing out on an F1 gig, da Costa was placed in a Red Bull-backed BMW in the DTM championship.

For da Costa, the Formula E Championship gives him an opportunity to return to open-wheel racing.

“I believe this is the championship of the future,” he said. “With Formula E we see history being made and I’m excited to be right at the heart of this new project.

“I have no doubt we’ll see this championship drive real innovation and advances in technology. I am confident Amlin Aguri will be out there at the front right from the start.”

Among the 19 other drivers da Costa will be competing against is Mike Conway, the first of the Dragon Racing team’s two drivers to be confirmed.

The 30-year-old Englishman drives part-time with Ed Carpenter Racing in the IndyCar Series, while also serving as a test driver with Toyota’s LMP1 factory team in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The former British F3 champion (pictured above right) is a renowned street course ace, an advantage that could well come in handy given the entire Formula E Championship is run on temporary street circuits, kicking off in September in Beijing.

“It is with great pleasure and excitement that I will be at the wheel of the Dragon Racing entry in the inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship,” Conway said.

“I have been very interested in Formula E since it was announced and I am proud to be involved with both Jay [Penske, team owner] and Dragon Racing, in what I believe is breaking new ground in motorsports. I am very confident we can achieve great results during this first season.”

Conway and da Costa’s appointments mean there are just four seats to be filled, including that of Conway’s teammate. Andretti Autosport is giving former F1 racer Scott Speed a test outing today, and he could well get the nod alongside the already-confirmed Franck Montagny.

The Chinese-run Dragon Racing team is still to confirm either of its drivers.

2014-5 FIA Formula E Championship Entry List:

Team	Driver 1	Driver 2
Amlin Aguri	Katherine Legge	António Félix da Costa
Andretti Autosport	Franck Montagny	TBA
Audi Sport ABT	Daniel Abt	Lucas di Grassi
China Racing	TBA	TBA
Dragon Racing	Mike Conway	TBA
e.dams Renault	Sébastien Buemi	Nicolas Prost
Mahindra Racing	Karun Chandhok	Bruno Senna
Trulli GP	Michela Cerutti	Jarno Trulli
Venturi Grand Prix	Nick Heidfeld	Stéphane Sarrazin
Virgin Racing	Jaime Alguersuari	Sam Bird