How Porsche's loved underdog soared to maiden Formula E victory

Porsche's Nico Müller found it "difficult to find the right words" to describe the emotion of finally becoming a Formula E race winner.

The Swiss driver mastered the opening race of Formula E's Berlin double-header to join the list of drivers to have won a race in the all-electric series, on his 69th start in the category.

Müller qualified sixth and remained in the lead group throughout the race, before finding himself with an energy advantage after all drivers had pitted for Pit Boost. With around 10 laps remaining, he blinked first and took Attack Mode, before soaring into the lead and almost five seconds up the road.

It was an emotional moment for Müller and a glorious one for Porsche at its home event in the German capital, with it having highlighted just why he was the perfect signing to replace Antonio Felix da Costa.

Some questioned the decision and immediately viewed the 34-year-old as Porsche's number two to Pascal Wehrlein, but he is proving that he is much more than that — he is a title contender.

Drivers, one by one, congratulated Müller in the media pen, with him being an incredibly popular race winner and an individual held in very high regard by his rivals.

Asked to put his maiden win into words, Müller told RacingNews365: "It's quite difficult to find the right words, to be honest, but a bit of relief, a bit of proving it to myself, maybe, is also one of the big aspects of it. 

"And just pride, right, and feeling very grateful towards the team for their hard work, but especially for the trust they put in me. Because, you know, I think there's no other championship where so many things need to go right to even be in contention for a win. 

"But a big, big part of it is being in the right environment, and Porsche is definitely the right environment to get that chance. So, very grateful."

Müller's title hunt

Prior to the first race in Berlin, Müller had flirted with the top of the standings, sitting just adrift but firmly within the top 10. Now, ahead of the second race at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit, he is right in the fight.

The win has boosted Müller to third in the standings, just 12 points adrift of championship leader Edoardo Mortara, but he is not getting carried away.

Discussing being in the title fight mix, Müller said: "Yeah, that's always the goal when you get to represent Porsche. But still, as I said before, it's so competitive here, it's never a given that you even have a shot. 

"So again, we have to take it day by day. We have to maximise days where things don't go so well as well. 

"There will be some of those — it's normal — but I just try to squeeze the maximum I can out of every opportunity we get, and then we see where we end up."