ABT CUPRA’s Thomas Biermaier Confident ‘Right Steps’ are Being Made

The ABT CUPRA Formula E Team enjoyed their most competitive weekend to-date since their return to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Nico Mueller having been on the verge of the top ten before causing a collision.

ABT CUPRA have somewhat become the backmarker of Season Nine, with the side being the only team on the grid to have failed to score a single point. That was the case again at the inaugural São Paulo E-Prix; however, Team Principal Thomas Biermaier was pleased to see plenty of “positive points” to take away from the weekend. Mueller demonstrated solid pace all weekend and managed to qualify thirteenth, before running around eleventh and twelfth during the first half of the race.

His afternoon came to a sudden end, though, after hitting Edoardo Mortara at Turn Seven whilst attempting to overtake his Swiss counterpart, sending the Maserati MSG Racing driver into the barrier. Whilst he didn’t end up in a wall, Mueller did enter the pits to retire from the race, due to the damage sustained from the collision. It was nevertheless Mueller’s best weekend since returning to the sport, with him having been able to keep up with the midfield.

On the other side of the ABT CUPRA garage, Robin Frijns finally returned following his fractured hand, with the Dutchman having missed four rounds following his crash in Mexico City. Frijns was slightly off the pace and qualified twentieth as a result, before making up some places during the race to claim fourteenth. The biggest bonus was that he got through the weekend without any issues with his hand, suggesting that he has fully recovered from the nasty injury.

So whilst the weekend was another point-less one for ABT CUPRA, Biermaier was able to take a considerable amount away from Brazil, with the belief being that they are taking “the right steps” and will be even stronger at their home E-Prix in April.

“We’re taking home the positive points. We made the right steps to be closer to the top in free practice and qualifying. If we continue this way consistently, we will soon see the corresponding results in the race as well. It’s good to have Robin back on board. We will now work intensively together on and off the track to present ourselves even stronger at our home races.”