The 2022 DTM finale at Hockenheim will be the last race weekend as an Audi driver for Nico Müller – restructuring in the motorsport programme in Ingolstadt as reason
The final weekend of the 2022 DTM season on 8/9 October at the Hockenheimring will be Nico Müller’s last race in the service of Audi. The manufacturer from Ingolstadt and the racing driver from Thun have agreed on early termination of his contract at the end of the season due to the recent restructuring in Audi’s motorsport programme.
“Just like Rene Rast, Nico Müller was originally intended as a driver for our LMDh project,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Rolf Michl, alluding to the planned endurance project that has since been halted due to Audi’s announced entry into Formula 1.
In 2023 Müller will drive in Formula E for the Abt team, which, unlike in the past, will no longer cooperate with Audi but with Mahindra. “Besides Formula E, Nico sees his future in Le Mans and in prototype racing. We can’t offer him that at the moment. That’s why, with a heavy heart, we decided together to let him go and give him the opportunity to realise his dream,” explains Michl.
Müller thanks Audi for early termination of contract
The 2014 DTM season was once Müller’s first year in Audi service. The Swiss commented on his departure from the brand after nine years: “That was a very difficult decision. Audi gave me the chance to enter professional motorsport. I owe a lot to the company and I’m a big fan of the brand and its cars. “
“The cooperation with Audi in Switzerland was always great as well and something very special for me,” said Müller and continued: “I still have goals in motorsport that unfortunately cannot be realised with Audi. “
“By entering Formula 1, Audi now has other priorities. That’s why I’m very grateful to Rolf Michl for giving me the opportunity to develop further,” said Müller.
Nico Müller’s Audi career: More than the DTM
On the Norisring weekend in 2016, Müller celebrated the first of his eleven DTM victories as an Audi driver to date. At the time, it was his first season with the Abt team, after he had competed for the Rosberg team in 2014 and 2015.
Müller remained loyal to the Abt team until the end of 2020, finishing runner-up in both 2019 and 2020. With the switch to GT3 cars for the 2021 DTM season, Müller moved back to the Rosberg team. He will bid his Audi farewell for this one in three and a half weeks’ time.
“I’ll never forget my first DTM race with Audi. As a child, I sat in the stands at the DTM finale at Hockenheim and admired the Audi drivers like Mattias Ekström. Standing on the grid with them a few years later was a goosebump moment,” Müller remembers.
In addition to the DTM, Müller was also active for Audi in other racing series, such as for individual starts in the World Rallycross Championship (WRX) in Mattias Ekström’s racing team EKS. Apart from that, the Swiss was part of the line-up of the winning WRT Audi at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2015.
And in the current 2022 GT World Challenge Endurance Cup (GTWC), Müller is part of the driver line-up of the number 46 WRT Audi, which he shares with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi and Frederic Vervisch. On 2 October, the trio will contest the GTWC season finale, the 3 Hours of Barcelona. One week later, Müller has the DTM finale at the Hockenheimring coming up.
