During the IndyCar restart, Juncadella violated the rules which handed the Audi drivers behind him an unexpected opportunity that René Rast, Mike Rockenfeller and Nico Müller turned into their advantage.
While Juncadella was handed a drive-through penalty on the last tap, Rockenfeller and Müller yielded to Rast in the last turn. “Obviously, you’d like to win yourself,” Rockenfeller said after the turbulent final phase. “But René is our only chance in the title race. That’s why, at this stage of the championship, it was clear that we’d help him. We managed that well today.”
But even on Sunday Nico Müller was in top condition and managed to even top the already good result from Saturday with the second position on Sunday. The Swiss started from the first row and fought an exciting duel with Gary Paffett during the first rounds before he was able to settle a little before the pit stops. “The duel was fun and my car was fantastic as well today”, Müller said. “Thanks a lot to Audi and my team! The fact that I didn’t really defend myself against René is quite logical with a view to the table. Audi took five of six podium places and two victories. That’s just fantastic.”
Nico Müller (position 3 / position 2)
“I’m very happy with the whole weekend. My team did a superb job and prepared a very fast car for me. To convert that into two podium finishes and to help René (Rast) keep the championship open was a big plus. You have to take your hat off to the people at home in Neuburg and Neckarsulm who didn’t give up and put us in the position of putting pressure on Mercedes once again before the season finale. I had a top performance in qualifying and was always fast in the race. Scoring these important points feels good. We’ll try that again at Hockenheim – or maybe even a little better.”