Porsche outline rare 'advantage' after Formula E driver swap

Porsche Formula E team principal Florian Modlinger has outlined the rare "advantage" the outfit has capitalised on following the arrival of Nico Müller, who replaced Antonio Felix da Costa. 

Müller's move to partner Pascal Wehrlein at the start of the season was seen by many as the safe option, with Modlinger recognising that the Swiss driver had been "underestimated" in the paddock.

Formula E has never come easily to Müller, who had a pretty miserable 18 months across Seasons 6 and 7 with what was a shockingly organised Dragon Penske Autosport. 

After missing out on a seat for the second half of season 7 and the entirety of Season 8, an opportunity to race for backmarker ABT Cupra for the start of the Gen3 era in Season 9 arose. Since taking that spot, it has seen Müller quietly go from strength to strength. 

For two seasons he over-delivered in what was a poor Mahindra package, before being signed as a factory Porsche driver and put alongside Jake Dennis last season in customer outfit Andretti.

Partnering Dennis often has the same fate as partnering Max Verstappen, but for large parts Müller held his own. With da Costa's exit to Jaguar being needed for both the Portuguese star and Porsche, it opened the door to Müller. 

Already, he has proven that the Weissach-based outfit made the right decision, working harmoniously with Wehrlein and scoring consistent points. Hitting Wehrlein in Monaco was a rare sour patch, but an immediate and heartfelt apology was issued.

The highlight of his 10 races with the factory Porsche squad so far is undoubtedly his first Formula E win in Berlin on home territory for the manufacturer, with Modlinger insisting that had it not expected Müller to be doing as good as he is, he would never have been signed.

"To be honest, if we had not anticipated that he was capable of performing at this level, he would not have been given the contract and the cockpit," Modlinger told RacingNews365 during an interview.

"In my opinion, based on the cars he was driving in the past, he was perhaps underestimated by a lot of people in the paddock. I knew him from DTM and knew how he works, how precise he is, and how quick he can be.

"That's one thing, but when we were looking at possibilities and drivers, we carried out a clear performance analysis. When you see what he was able to do at ABT Cupra with the team-mates he had, and also when they were running the Mahindra, a careful and detailed performance analysis showed what he was capable of.

"That was also one of the reasons why we signed him."

The vastly different Porsche garage atmosphere

What has been clear throughout the season so far is the dramatic change in mood within the German camp, with both drivers working together rather than against each other.

This is a stark contrast to last season, when Wehrlein and da Costa clashed on multiple occasions.

However, in addition to their positive relationship, Müller's driving style is also playing to Porsche's strengths, something that could prove crucial in the fight for all three titles over the remaining seven rounds.

According to Modlinger, Porsche is benefiting from the rare circumstance that Müller and Wehrlein prefer a very similar set-up, making collaboration between the two sides of the garage significantly easier.

Asked about the atmosphere within the Porsche camp this season, Modlinger said: "What you can feel is that both drivers work well alongside each other, but it's more technical than that.

"Looking at the engineers and the performance guys who are trying to find the sweet spot for the car and extract the maximum performance, especially in qualifying, both drivers can handle and drive with a very, very similar balance and a very similar setup.

"This makes everything a lot easier for the whole group, as they don't have to go in two different directions. They can really focus on one route and then maybe make small adjustments to keep each driver happy.

"That's, for me, an advantage we have on the technical and performance side at the moment."