Pit Boost defect: Here's why Müller couldn't win in Monaco - but put Dennis on the podium

Luck and bad luck can be so close together: Thanks to an early Pit Boost, Nico Müller was brought into the lead in Saturday's Formula E race in Monaco. However, it was revealed after the race that his fast charger had malfunctioned - the TV display was wrong! So the longed-for victory came to nothing. But thanks to a clever trick, he at least helped team-mate Jake Dennis to the podium and took some points himself despite an early tyre failure.

The race could hardly have started worse for Nico Müller. "I was first hit on lap 1, then I had a puncture on the right rear tyre and had to pit", he explains exclusively at e-Formula.news. "So we had to try something: I was able to close the gap to the field and then utilised the Pit Boost very early on at the first opportunity."

"But it didn't work," Müller reveals. "They do unlock the energy for you (on the software side), but the battery is still not charged." As the race in Monaco was relatively long, Müller actually needed the full battery capacity to get over the distance. "So I had to survive somehow." The extreme energy saving led to a very slow pace.

There was no sign of this on TV. The energy display did not correctly reflect Müller's low battery status, although he must have had a good ten per cent less energy than his competitors. The spectators wondered why the Swiss driver lost a good half-minute lead in a short space of time and was also unable to keep up with the front runners in the final phase.

"Would have won without the problem - for sure"

Müller himself also experienced the situation as chaotic: "Of course, you then also have strange information on the dash (steering wheel display) because the car thinks you have the energy. But you wouldn't make it to the finish like that. That's why it was a difficult second part of the race, even though we were in front. If we hadn't had that problem today, we would have won - for sure."

Thus, Müller struggles with the defective quick charger, but is ultimately satisfied with 5th place. "On the one hand, we had put ourselves in a position to take advantage of such a situation - of course, you need luck. We had that. And then we were unlucky that it didn't work out. Due to the puncture at the start, the fact that we were still able to pick up points certainly outweighs the fact that we were able to win. Even though you would have won the race today if everything had gone normally."

 

 

 

 

 

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Dennis uses FIA charger & reaches podium despite penalty

Because the Andretti charger had not worked for Müller, Jake Dennis used the FIA's replacement charger directly and therefore had no problem recharging. He also benefited from the assistance of his team-mate, although the odds were not in his favour towards the end.

Dennis had accelerated too early after the full-course yellow phase and received a 5-second time penalty just a few laps before the end. He was able to slip away with the leading duo in third place, while Müller held off the competition in fourth. He managed to make the gap big enough for Dennis to remain third despite the penalty.

"I knew it was pretty close with the FCY. When the penalty came, I took it on the chin," said Dennis on Formula E's world feed shortly after the race. "But I had a bit of help from Nico and the pace was good enough to pull out that lead. It was a really tough race and quite stressful."

While Dennis was celebrating on the podium, Müller had to pay a final tribute: He apparently ran out of energy during the final acceleration process of the race, meaning he had to let Edo Mortara pass him virtually on the finish line. Nevertheless, Andretti can be pleased with a good haul of 25 championship points.

Additional reporting by Tobias Wirtz