DTM: Müller must no longer win 🎥
TEAM RECORD AT AUDI Nico Müller celebrated two more podium finishes in the DTM at Brands Hatch. That would be all well and good if his Audi colleague René Rast was not favored in the title fight and therefore no longer under attack. Although Saturday's first race at Brands Hatch ended with a victory for BMW driver Marco Wittmann, it was [...]
Although Saturday's first race at Brands Hatch ended with a victory for BMW driver Marco Wittmann, Audi was the dominant brand on the island. This was reflected on Sunday in the first quadruple victory for a manufacturer in the turbo era of the DTM, which began in 2019, after all eight Audi RS5 DTM cars occupied the front row of the grid.
Eight races, seven podium places
As at the previous event in Assen, Nico Müller achieved two podium finishes in one DTM weekend. He did not qualify perfectly on either race day, but showed his racing speed on Saturday by advancing to third place and on Sunday by finishing second. However, his Audi colleagues did not put up much of a fight.
The highlights of the first race at Brands Hatch:
Müller has therefore finished seven of the last eight races on the podium. Unfortunately, this terrific record does not help him in the title fight. René Rast is obviously favored within the team. While the second-placed German was out of reach for the Swiss on Saturday, the latter claimed his fourth win of the season on Sunday with the help of a non-attack pact.
The person concerned expresses himself diplomatically.
Nico Müller: "I lost the chance to fight for victory with René due to a slow pit stop. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with the good points haul this weekend."
The summary of the second race alone indicates that Müller and his Abt team-mate Robin Frijns were just chasing the leader of the standings in the final phase:
Collision with consequences
Outwardly, the two strongest Audi drivers appear to be happy and friendly with each other. Behind the scenes at Audi, however, things seem to be simmering, as former Audi works driver and current TV pundit Timo Scheider revealed in a column in the run-up to the British DTM round.
https://www.ran.de/motorsport/dtm/news/dtm-kolumne-von-timo-scheider-es-brodelt-bei-audi-131521
This was triggered by the incident at the Norisring, where Müller and Rast collided in the second race. In contrast to the team management, a number of people see the blame on both title rivals - including Müller himself. He also admitted this to AutoSprintCH (Click here for the article) are expressed.
As has now leaked out, it was the Audi Sport boss himself who deprived Nico Müller and the Abt team of a tangible victory in Assen with his instruction to make a mandatory pit stop (which, according to the team and driver, should have been made at the latest possible time). This paved the way for Wittmann and BMW to win and for Rast to take second place ahead of Müller, who once again lost a few points to his Audi colleague.
Nothing lost yet
Perhaps the whole thing is just a storm in a teacup at the moment. Because nothing has been decided in the championship yet. René Rast leads with 206 points ahead of Nico Müller (169) and BMW drivers Marco Wittmann (147) and Phillip Eng (129). One of this quartet will win the title.
Three events with six races are still to come. There are 28 points to be scored per race (3 for pole position and 25 for victory). Anyone who makes a real mistake in the final third of the season will take themselves out of the title race.
