The Monaco E-Prix continues to leave a lot to be desired when taking a cold look at the standings and driver performances at the iconic circuit.
ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller was fighting to get into the points, however, Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird took him out of the race with just minutes to go to the checkered flag, resulting in his fourth DNF of the season.
Prior to the Principality day, both ABT CUPRA drivers – Robin Frijns and Mueller – lined up on the front row of the grid in Berlin and scored the team’s first points during the GEN3 era.
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Experience Behind the Wheel
Nearly back in a position to score points, Mueller reflected on his performance and how he moved around the track from grid 17 to ninth around the famous Principality.
“We maximized what we had,” he said after the race. “I’m happy with the job we did. It’s frustrating that we didn’t get any reward for it, being taken out two laps from the end in P9.
“Two points in a race, coming from 17th for us, would have been like a win, honestly. It’s very sad for the whole team, because the car was very damaged and not our fault. We have to swallow that,” he lashed out.
Bird was also on a charge up the grid but caused the collision with Mueller just after the Sainte-Dévote corner. As a result, the Jaguar driver was hit with a five-second penalty after the E-Prix and given another penalty point, bringing his total to five in the last 12 months.
“It was clear I was going to defend my position. I was holding the inside line. After we started to break, Bird tried to get his nose on the inside by releasing the brake a little bit. If I would have gone wide, I would have been heading straight for the wall. Then there was no choice. I had to try to do the apex, and he hit me with his front wheel on my rear wheel. It’s clear, and he got a penalty for it, but ABT CUPRA got a big penalty in terms of the damage bill.”
Formula E returns next June 3 for the second season at the Jakarta E-Prix.
