Born in Cascais, Félix da Costa began his karting career at age nine. In the Cadet class he won the Portuguese Championship and the Portuguese Karting Open in 2002, followed by the South Portuguese Championship in 2003. He won the Portuguese Championship again in 2006 in the KF2 category, and also placed runner-up in the World Series Karting Championship and third in the Italian Open Masters that year. In 2007 he became an official factory driver for the Italian Tony Kart team, competing alongside Will Stevens in the KF2 category.
Félix da Costa moved into single-seaters in 2008, competing in both the Eurocup and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. He made his NEC debut at Hockenheim, finishing third behind team-mates Valtteri Bottas and Tobias Hegewald. He secured his first NEC win at Oschersleben and ended the season as runner-up, 86 points behind Bottas. As a prize he tested a Formula Renault 3.5 Series car with the P1 Motorsport team at Paul Ricard. He also served as a rookie driver for A1 Team Portugal at the New Zealand and South African rounds of the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season.
In 2009, with Bottas and others moving on, Félix da Costa became a title contender in both series. He dominated the NEC field, wrapping up the title at the Nürburgring. In the Eurocup he led the standings until the Nürburgring rounds, where he ran under appeal for a technical infringement. He won from pole at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragón circuit but lost second place in the championship to Jean-Éric Vergne on a tie-breaker.
In the 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series with Motopark Academy, Félix da Costa became the first Portuguese driver to win a race in the series, at the Nürburgring. He followed with further victories at Zandvoort and Brands Hatch, finishing seventh in the championship as top-placed rookie. That same season he made his first Macau Grand Prix appearance for Carlin, finishing sixth in the 15-lap main race. He also took part in the Formula One Young Drivers' Test at Abu Dhabi for Force India, setting the third-fastest time on day one with 77 laps completed.
In 2011 Félix da Costa contested two meetings of the British Formula Three Championship for Hitech Racing to qualify for Macau. He collected two podiums at the Nürburgring and at Paul Ricard. At Macau he stalled on the grid in the qualifying race and retired from the main race with a wheel issue.
For 2012, Félix da Costa raced for Carlin in the MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup at Snetterton to gain the necessary qualifying appearance for Macau, winning both races comfortably. At the Macau Grand Prix he qualified second but led the qualifying race from start to finish. In the Grand Prix itself, he resisted a challenge from Felix Rosenqvist at Lisboa on lap one and held the lead to the end, becoming the first Portuguese winner of the event since Eduardo de Carvalho won the inaugural race in 1954 — and Carlin's first victory there since Takuma Sato won in 2001. At the end of 2016 Félix da Costa won the Macau Grand Prix a second time.
Félix da Costa made his GP3 Series debut in 2010, replacing Lucas Foresti at Carlin for two rounds. He rejoined the series full-time in 2011 with Status Grand Prix, partnering Alexander Sims and Ivan Lukashevich. His sole win came in the final race of the season at Monza, holding off Rio Haryanto by 0.7 seconds after Mitch Evans and James Calado collided with three laps remaining.
In 2012 with Carlin, partnering Alex Brundle and William Buller, Félix da Costa won at Silverstone in wet conditions and twice at the Hungaroring — becoming the first GP3 driver to win both races in a race weekend — and took two second places at Spa-Francorchamps. He finished third in the final drivers' championship.
Mid-season 2012 Félix da Costa was selected for the Red Bull Junior Team, replacing Lewis Williamson at Arden Caterham. He joined Alexander Rossi at the team from the Nürburgring round onward. He scored four wins in the final five races of the season, including victories in mixed conditions at Le Castellet, a final-lap win at the Hungaroring after Kevin Magnussen's engine failure, and a double at Catalunya. He also set fastest lap at Silverstone. Despite missing the first five rounds, he finished fourth in the championship with 166 points, 23 behind champion Robin Frijns. Following these performances he was invited to test with the Red Bull Racing Formula One team at the Young Drivers' Test in Abu Dhabi, topping the time-sheets on day two with a lap half a second quicker than any other driver.
He remained with Arden Caterham full-time for the 2013 season. Both Frijns and Félix da Costa received tests with Red Bull Racing at the Abu Dhabi Young Drivers' Test, Félix da Costa setting the pace on the second day.
Félix da Costa competed in the 2014 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters with the BMW MTEK team alongside Timo Glock, scoring points twice and finishing 21st in the standings. In 2015 he moved to BMW Team Schnitzer, partnering Martin Tomczyk. He earned his first DTM podium and first DTM victory in the second race at Zandvoort, ultimately finishing 11th in the championship.
Félix da Costa competed in the inaugural Formula E season for Team Aguri in rounds not clashing with DTM. He raced alongside Katherine Legge and Salvador Durán. His sole win came at the 2015 Buenos Aires ePrix after advancing from eighth. He finished eighth in the standings with 51 points.
For 2015–16 he retained his Aguri seat, variously alongside Nathanaël Berthon, Salvador Durán and Ma Qinghua. He was replaced by René Rast for the 2016 Berlin ePrix due to DTM commitments. A series of mechanical failures cost him multiple strong results: at the 2015 Beijing ePrix a breakdown dropped him from podium contention; at Buenos Aires a safety cap failure ended his race while challenging for a repeat win; at Long Beach he was disqualified after claiming pole position due to tyre pressure 0.3 psi below minimum; and a double penalty at the 2016 London ePrix demoted him from fourth to eleventh.
Félix da Costa moved to Andretti for season 3, racing alongside Frijns. He remained with Andretti for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons alongside Sims. In the 2018–19 season opener, the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix, he took pole and won — his first podium in three seasons. In the 2019 Marrakesh ePrix he was leading before a clash with teammate Sims caused his retirement.
Félix da Costa joined DS Techeetah in 2019 alongside defending champion Jean-Éric Vergne. He scored his first podium for the team in Santiago, second behind Maximilian Günther, then finished second behind Mitch Evans in Mexico. His first win for DS Techeetah came in Marrakesh with the third-largest winning margin in Formula E history at 11.427 seconds.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic hiatus, Félix da Costa delivered dominant performances at the Berlin Tempelhof Circuit, winning two races and taking a podium to clinch the Drivers' title. DS Techeetah simultaneously secured the Constructors' Championship with two races to spare. In recognition of his achievement, he received the Order of Merit from Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. He continued with DS Techeetah alongside Vergne for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons.
Félix da Costa joined TAG Heuer Porsche for the 2022–23 season, replacing André Lotterer and partnering Pascal Wehrlein. In his 100th Formula E race, starting 13th in Hyderabad, he finished third after Sébastien Buemi received a post-race penalty. He then won in Cape Town with a succession of passes on Nick Cassidy and Vergne at Turn 7.
In 2023–24 he remained with Porsche and scored five on-track victories in the second half of the season: Berlin race 2, Shanghai race 2, and both rounds of the Portland ePrix. He was disqualified from a win at Misano race 1. Félix da Costa and the team parted ways following the 2024–25 season.
Félix da Costa joined Jaguar Racing ahead of the 2025–26 season, partnering Mitch Evans.
Félix da Costa won the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers in 2022 with Jota. In 2026 he returned to the FIA World Endurance Championship with the Alpine Endurance Team.
His older half-brother Duarte is also a racing driver, competing primarily in touring car and sports car racing, and also serves as his manager. Félix da Costa is fluent in five languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French, English, and Italian.
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