Nico Müller: "It can happen that quickly..."
DTM PODIUM IN HUNGARY After zero laps at the start of the DTM in Hockenheim and Lausitz, Nico Müller really took off in Hungary. As in the first race on Saturday, a podium was also in the cards on Sunday, until drama ensued. Neither Nico Müller nor the entire DTM community will ever forget last weekend. So [...]
Neither Nico Müller nor the entire DTM community will ever forget last weekend. As positive as it started for the Swiss Audi factory driver, it ended negatively for virtually everyone involved.
Müller qualified second on the first row of the grid for Saturday's race at the Hungaroring in his Abt Audi RS5 DTM. The 26-year-old from Berne finished the race in third place, marking the fifth podium of his DTM career.
Liberation strike
After missing out on the points at the first two events, this coup was tantamount to a liberating blow. But where did this progress come from?
Nico Müller: "Yes, it can go that fast... Budapest suited us Audi drivers because the track is very technical and twisty. It doesn't have any long straights like at Hockenheim or the Lausitzring where you had to find the compromise between speed and downforce. I felt comfortable right from the start. In addition, we at Audi were better sorted than our opponents from BMW and Mercedes who then caught up on Sunday."
He could even have done better if he hadn't made a small mistake after the mandatory pit stop for a tire change.
Nico Müller: "I came out of the pits ahead of Paul di Resta and wanted to stay in front. Unfortunately, I immediately got a brake plate, which caused me to experience severe vibrations. After that, the car was much more difficult to drive than before. Lucas Auer also made up time with his early stop. The pace of the two Mercedes was really super."
Rain ruins strategy and causes serious injuries
Sunday morning started even better, with Müller setting the fastest lap in the third free practice session. With warmer temperatures in qualifying, his team managed a less than ideal set-up for the changed conditions. This resulted in only ninth place on the grid.
With a flexible strategy, a lot would have been possible in the second race, too, if a thunderstorm hadn't caused chaos with dramatic consequences.
Because no less than three drivers slid into their mechanics and marshals on the slippery concrete during the stop with their slicks, injuring three of them, some seriously, the race was called off.
After a long break, everyone was allowed to restart on slicks, in the meantime in sunshine again. Even those who had changed to treaded tires before the break in the rain and were now able to drive through without stopping.
Lucky for them, unlucky for the others who, like Nico Müller, had stayed outside despite the onset of rain.
Nico Müller: "I guessed correctly that the rain would soon stop again and so I stayed on slicks until we stopped. It would have been the right decision. So after the restart, all those who had previously made an early tire stop and were thus looking for their chance advanced to the finish."
The Swiss led for a few laps shortly before the end, but fell out of the top ten due to the late stop.
Next stop Norisring - the site of his first DTM victory
Due to the injured, who were not in mortal danger, racing became a secondary matter. Nevertheless, Müller draws an important conclusion after the Hungarian weekend.
Nico Müller: "I can be satisfied because I clinched third place on Saturday as the best Audi driver under my own steam and wasn't flushed to the front by retirements. I can be proud of that and the two additional points from qualifying. Unfortunately, we're no longer able to look good on every track as we did last year. So I'm expecting more difficult races. But we'll continue to focus on making progress and getting the maximum out of it, as I managed to do in Hungary."
The next stop is the Norisring race in Nuremberg on June 23/24. That's where Nico Müller took his only DTM victory to date on Sunday in 2016.
