Nico Mueller believes the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team are getting “closer and closer” to the rest of the field, following a strong Rome E-Prix double-header.
Mueller put on an excellent display in the Italian capital last weekend, with the Swiss driver having claimed the team’s best result of the season.
The 31-year-old finished the opening race in the Eternal City in sixth, to claim the Kempten-based team’s highest finish of the Gen3 era.
Mueller capitalised on a huge six-car crash which caused an early red flag in the race, and sadly included his ABT CUPRA team-mate Robin Frijns.
After making up several places because of the terrifying crash, Mueller was able to make further progress through the field completely on merit, to the extent where he almost beat Jean-Eric Vergne to fifth.
ABT CUPRA’s pace and efficiency were both excellent, with Mueller having gone on to claim another point in the second race where he snatched 10th at the Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR.
It marked his and the team’s best weekend of the season and the first time that the outfit managed to secure back-to-back points finishes, suggesting that progress is being made.
In fact, Mueller’s back-to-back points finishes in Rome means ABT CUPRA have scored points in the last three races, as Frijns finished 10th in Portland.
The result is very much a “positive” for the Mahindra customer team, whilst it’s also an indicator that they are reducing their deficit to the leading teams.
“We made the best of a difficult starting position and scored valuable points for the team,” Mueller said.
“What was positive was not only the positions, but above all the fact that we are getting closer and closer in terms of pace and efficiency.”
Frijns would’ve likely been close to a points finish in Rome had he not retired from both races, in what was a weekend to forget for the Dutchman.
ABT CUPRA Team Principal Thomas Biermaier was keen to point this out, whilst discussing how the entire team “deserved” Mueller’s sixth-place finish due to how “tough” the season has been for the returning side.
“The result on Saturday was good for the whole team – everyone deserved this small moment of success after the tough last few months,” said Biermaier.
“Nico was strong all day and kept a cool head in a turbulent race and acted very smart. I’m sure Robin would have scored points too if he hadn’t been caught up in the aftermath of the accident.”
