No one is really talking about Nico Mueller that much for the season ahead. And that’s probably just the way he likes it.
Mueller has arrived at Porsche quietly, much in keeping with his manner in operating within teams. He’s not placid. He’s not volatile. From Porsche and Pascal Wehrlein’s perspective he’s not Antonio Felix da Costa.
And that fact between them will, in their minds, be just as refreshing as it will be for da Costa’s demeanour at his new environment – Jaguar TCS Racing this season.
The dynamic between Mueller and Wehrlein will be vastly different to what has gone before. It won’t be as spicy for us, the media, but it will be much more digestible for the team.
The pair have known each other since DTM days and have been on reasonably friendly terms ever since. Both are family men, meticulous and ferociously quick. They should complement each other very nicely indeed.
“I think maybe I’ve known Pascal better from the early days in our careers, than I did know (former teammate) Jake (Dennis),” Mueller tells Formula E Notebook.
“So, it’s maybe slightly different from that perspective. But still, they are both (Wehrlein and Dennis) rated as absolute top drivers in this paddock and they’ve proven it by winning championships.”
Mueller believes that a harmonious partnership between teammates is an ultimate benefit to the greater good of the team, although last season Wehrlein and da Costa somehow managed to ensure a double title triumph.
“In Formula E, it can have a big impact on your results and the team’s results,” he explains.
“Because in the end there’s so much strategy involved, so much development and scanning of options that you have in terms of software and setup, that if you manage to kind of benefit from each other, I think that can really lift things to the next level.
“It’s not really different to what I experienced last year with Jake being very much up to speed with the processes in that team, and here is probably going to be very similar, so I’m quite confident that we can work together very well.”
The Testing Dilemma that Could Hurt Mueller
Porsche like most of the other manufacturers do not have any further Gen3 private testing days left. With the advent of the Gen4 cars and the cadence of deadlines and milestones in Gen4 coming up, the away from race work is now solely the domain of the simulator bar the odd filming day or two.
This is slightly tough for Mueller who along with Dennis last season certainly suffered for lack of track time, especially as most of the race weekends were compromised by poor weather.
“To really practice what a race weekend can challenge you with is just difficult, so definitely, the experience from last year is going to be very valuable for that,” explains Mueller.
“It would have been cool to do some more manufacturer testing with this car, because I think that’s what you lack as a customer team, and that’s the situation I’ve been in for the last three years.
“I feel like now I have the opportunity also to get my head around these tyres more, because that’s been one of the challenges, and I hope all that then pays off also in the in the race weekend format, where it is more crucial to find that last little bit the feeling for the new tyres and qualifying.”
Mueller’s form last season was erratic but in the second half of the season his qualifying in particular perked up and he beat Dennis 4-2 in the final six races of the campaign.
He will be hoping that this will be a decent platform to take on one of Formula E’s recent qualifying kings, his new teammate Pascal Wehrlein who in the opening three races of last season qualified on pole twice and second once.
Should that type of form continue this season Mueller will need every ounce of that quiet confidence and analytical savvy to ensure his promotion will be much more than just a supporting role.
So, can Nico Mueller win an EPrix in 2025/26? Undoubtedly he can, and he can win more than one. But he will have to fight tooth-and-nail for it, and he will have to assimilate to Wehrlein’s ways as much as Porsche’s.
