Nico Müller: “It was a strange race today”

Audi looked set for yet another victory at the Lausitzring as their main title contenders Robin Frijns, Nico Müller, and René Rast started from the first three positions.

But the race strategy chosen caused the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer to lose out to BMW, with Frijns’ third place their best result.

Rast was the first of the three to pit on lap 17, mid-point of the race. Müller and Frijns mirrored the move on the following two laps, but returned to the track in the middle of the pack where they were unable to make good progress and reach the front.

“This was a very strange race,” said Müller. “At first, I didn’t understand what we did wrong. We stopped late and lost places as a result. The only strange thing was that we couldn’t make up the positions this time despite the fresher tyres.

“Everyone defended themselves with DRS,” continued the Swiss. “That’s why we lost the chance to catch up with the two BMWs in front. When René had no more DRS, I overtook him basically at the finish line. That was my only highlight.”

Rast reckons that they should have been more attentive to BMW’s strategy: “In the fight between Robin, Nico and me we probably concentrated too much on ourselves and overlooked that the BMWs were pitting quite early, managing an undercut.”

“It was definitely a crazy race,” added Frijns. “I started from pole and had the feeling that the pace was pretty okay. René and Nico behind me had a similar pace. All three of us pitted for tires quite late. When I came out again, I was only seventh. It was extremely difficult to fight my way back to the front.”

“Our top three gambled a bit today,” said Audi Motorsport boss Dieter Gass. “When you change the tyres late, you have to overtake other cars in the end but that didn’t work this time.”

Müller still has a healthy lead in the drivers’ championship with 133 points, 36 ahead of Rast and 41 over Frijns. In the manufacturers’ table, Audi counts 406 points, 220 over BMW.