The tragedy of mid-table: 'It's not easy, celebrating one point'

"Yes, honestly, since [the WEC race in] Imola latest, it's kind of gone and forgotten because we have a clear task ahead of us and it's all about that," the Swiss driver said during an exclusive interview with GPblog. "The focus is being ready 100% for Le Mans. We don't cry after Qatar anymore."

'Tough to never compete for prizes'

What a boost it would have been for the ambitious Peugeot and certainly Nico Müller. For years the Swiss driver was one of the absolute best in DTM, but in recent years he has been driving most of his races in the World Endurance Championship and Formula E in the midfield, or worse, at the back. "It's not easy. It's not easy," sighs Müller, commenting on how tough it is to never compete for the top prizes and to be a walk-on most of the time.

Peugeot is a team under construction (from which victories are not yet expected), while Müller competes in Formula E for ABT Cupra, one of the weaker teamson the grid. "There a point is a victory. And that's what I try to do. I try to tell myself, 'look, if we manage to do this and this in terms of results, we have to celebrate it like a win'. And you kind of inject that philosophy into your team automatically because they start to feel the same thing."

"And then you come into the pits after qualifying for the duels [in Formula E] or scoring two points in Imola and people are happy and you see it. And that gives you a bit of a boost, you know what I mean? That's how I've had to learn to manage these situations," says Müller, who realises that more than in other sports, an athlete depends on his material.

So many factors determine success in motorsport

"So you need to be in the right car with the right team at the right time in order to be able to win races. Formula One is a very extreme example. You have had in the last 10 years maybe two teams dominating the sport. If you were not in one of those cars, you knew you were not going to win a championship. After my DTM times where I think I had a pretty good run, there was a bit of a change of career path. I've rarely been in the best car on the grid. It's not easy. You have to kind of accept that."

There are drivers who take the easy way out: success in a class, always in that class. Müller, twice vice-champion in DTM, would undoubtedly have grabbed a title once in Germany had he remained active in touring cars. "Maybe, but I wanted a new challenge and that's why I decided to try my luck or whatever you want to call it in endurance racing or in hypercar. I mean, I did endurance racing in GTs and in Formula E and I knew that it was to some extent a risk. But motorsports is quite cruel in that respect. You don't have all the teams opening up their doors every year and saying, 'oh, would you like to drive the best car on the grid?' It's very rare to get these chances and you have to be at the right time or at the right spot at the right time."

Combination of Formula E and WEC

Perhaps an opportunity with a top team will come for next season for Müller. It is an open secret that he recently tested for the strong Porsche Formula E team, although the Swiss can't say anything at all about that. However, he does say he would love to compete in both WEC and Formula E. "I'm really enjoying myself in both championships. I think it's a privilege to be able to do both. It's the golden era of endurance racing in hypercar, I would call it, with so much competition."

"All these big manufacturers that want to win Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship. And Formula E is still becoming more and more relevant in motorsports. But especially also this technology transfer to the technology that we see on the road. And that's what makes it very interesting still for manufacturers. You have big factory teams that are operating on a super high level. And I think the level of drivers is also ultra high. I think what makes sport exciting is that you get to compare yourself with the best of your field."

Müller also wants to start winning himself

And hopefully, Müller says, he too will then stand with a trophy in his hands after a race. With Peugeot, that is more realistic than with his FE team ABT. "There's not a lot missing. I just think we need to keep closing the gap in terms of performance to the big guys there. That goes for Peugeot TotalEnergie. That goes for us being a customer team [in Formula E] of Mahindra being the worst powertrain on the grid, probably. Unfortunately, that's a reality. So there's going to be changes in the future over there."

About his future at ABT, Müller says: "I'm not sure if I'm going to continue or not. I don't know whether I'm continuing here or not. But the goal is to do that. But I want to be in a situation where I can challenge for wins."