source: Audi AG
- Swiss racing driver with new targets and Formula E
- Early termination of contract at the end of the 2022 season
- Last DTM race for Audi at the finale at Hockenheim
The DTM finale at Hockenheim on October 8/9 will be Nico Müller’s last race under the sign of the four rings for the time being. Audi Sport and the Swiss race driver have mutually agreed to terminate their contract early at the end of the 2022 season.
“Just like René Rast, Nico Müller was originally intended as a driver for our LMDh project,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl. “Nico has intensively prepared himself for prototype racing with races in the LMP2 class. In addition to Formula E, Nico sees his future at Le Mans and in prototype racing. We can’t offer him that at the moment, so it was with a heavy heart that we jointly decided to let him go and give him the opportunity to realize his dream.”
“That was a very difficult decision,” says Nico Müller. “Audi gave me the chance to enter professional motorsport. I owe a lot to the company and am a big fan of the brand and its cars. Also, the cooperation with Audi in Switzerland has always been great and very special for me. I still have goals in motorsport that unfortunately cannot be realized with Audi. By entering Formula 1 there are now other priorities at Audi. That’s why I’m very grateful to Rolf Michl for giving me the opportunity to develop further.”
Nico Müller joined Audi’s DTM driver squad in 2014 as a 22-year-old through a junior scouting program. In 2016, he celebrated the first of a total of eleven victories in the popular touring car racing series at the Norisring. In 2019 and 2020, he secured the runner-up championship in Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. In 2020, he raced on a par with three-time DTM Champion René Rast. In the end, he only narrowly missed out on the title.
“I’ll never forget my first DTM race with Audi,” says Müller. “As a kid, I sat in the stands at the DTM finale at Hockenheim and admired the Audi drivers like Mattias Ekström. Standing on the grid together with them a few years later was a goosebump moment.”
In addition to the DTM, Nico Müller was also repeatedly in action for Audi Sport customer racing in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 – in 2022 in the DTM and together with motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi in the GT World Challenge.
“A very special moment in my career was winning the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2015 – and not just because I had to have a bald head cut afterwards because of a bet,” says Müller.
As a test and development driver, Nico Müller was also an important part of Audi’s Formula E project. In 2023, the Swiss will compete for Team ABT Sportsline in the electric racing series.
“We will miss Nico not only as an outstanding race driver, but also as a likeable, sincere person and brand ambassador,” says Rolf Michl. “We wish him nothing but the best for his new stage in his career.”
