José María López concedes Yvan Muller is currently stronger

Reigning champion José María López lost out on pole position for the second consecutive race to Citroën team-mate Yvan Muller, and after qualifying, while congratulating his team-mate on his lap, the unfazed Argentinian admitted that Muller has had the edge more recently.

López and Muller went head-to-head as the final two charges in today’s one-lap shootout, with López having lead first practice and the first part of qualifying, and Muller the second practice session as well as the second part of qualifying.

Both drivers became the first to break the 2:04 barrier in qualifying, whilst on their single qualifying laps, with López setting a time of 2:03.959, but with Muller outperforming his team-mate in the first sector to grab pole position with a time just over two-tenths of a second faster with a 2:03.736.

“It was a good lap and a very nice fight with Yvan,” said López. “Honestly, like in the last race, Yvan was the best today and it’s like this. I can’t find any excuse. He did a fantastic lap and is very strong.

“We didn’t really know the potential of the car until Qualifying. I felt very good in Q1 and also in Q2 and I felt great in Q3. I hoped it would be enough because I improved my lap – it was the best of the weekend. The only thing I could see was sector one, which was probably my weak point and I need to check why. But I’m quite happy with my lap.”

Looking ahead to the prospect of another battle for the victory with team-mate Muller after close battles at the Hungaroring, the Nürburgring and Moscow Raceway, the Argentinian added:

“It’s very exciting. For the moment Yvan has had more performance in the last two races but it’s like this. I started the year very strong and he is now stronger, but there is still a long way to go so I need to do two good races. The important thing is the team managed to be the quickest. They did a fantastic job.”