Nico Müller admitted it was a surprise to take his maiden ABB FIA Formula E Championship podium in race one of the Valencia E-Prix last weekend, with the Dragon/Penske Autosport driver conserving enough energy to finish second.
Müller started from twenty-second on the grid and was expecting a tough race. His afternoon started with a drive-through penalty and included two trips through the gravel, but unlike many of his rivals, he was able to conserve enough energy to finish the race and claim an amazing podium finish.
The Swiss racer felt the team deserved the result at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, and it was great to celebrate with his engineers and mechanics post-race.
“Starting from P22, we felt we needed a combination of strategy and chaos to make it to the front,” said Müller. “We initially got more chaos than we wanted with a drive-thru penalty and two trips into the gravel.
“Fortunately, we had great pace in the wet, the car felt really good, and I managed to conserve energy while gaining places on track. That was key. In the end, we had good energy left, and my Team guided me through that race perfectly to manage our energy and be in good shape when it counted at the end.”
“It is a great reward for everyone in the Team. We deserve to celebrate a podium, and I am super happy for my team-mates. We know what we have to work on to be ready for tomorrow and the rest of the season, but this was a well-deserved podium. We took all the information, and made it count.”
Unfortunately, Müller was unable to follow his second place with points in race two on Sunday as he came home twentieth. Team-mate Sérgio Sette Câmara failed to score in both races, retiring in race one and coming home just behind Müller in twenty-first in race two.
