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DTM: Da Costa feels mission not complete
By alley - Sep 24, 2016, 5:31 AM ET

DTM: Da Costa feels mission not complete

Outgoing BMW DTM driver Antonio Felix da Costa feels he will leave the series having "not completed my mission" in the German-based tin-top championship.

The former Red Bull junior moved into the DTM in 2014 when he missed out on a Toro Rosso Formula 1 drive to Daniil Kvyat.

While he managed to take a win and a pole position at Zandvoort in 2015, he is yet to finish in the top 10 in the championship, and he will

leave the DTM at the end of the season to focus on Formula E with BMW partner Andretti

.

"It was a great time that left a mark on me as a racing driver," said da Costa, who announced the decision ahead of this weekend's Hungaroring DTM round. "However, it was always difficult. I wasn't able to show my full potential and as a result it seems like I haven't completed my mission here.

"I have been racing in both DTM and Formula E, and in both series it didn't work out so well, so for the future I want to focus on one thing."

Da Costa

joins his teammate at Schnitzer – 2011 champion Martin Tomczyk

– in leaving the DTM at the end of the year, but he expects to work with the team again as part of his continued deal with BMW that will include GT outings.

"Leaving somebody like [team boss] Charly Lamm is really sad," he said. "I owe him an incredible lot, but I am certain our paths will still cross often in the future as well.

"In the DTM I won a race in 2015, but in the year before I was really struggling, which shows how close things are. However, I haven't managed to be a front-runner for a longer period of time."

The 25-year-old added victory in Hungary – where he won in GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5 – would be "the icing on the cake" following his announcement.

Originally on Autosport.com

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