Nico Muller says that his decision to leave the Abt Formula E team was fuelled by the need for a “new challenge” as he looks poised to join Andretti.
The Swiss driver is in his second campaign with the German squad, having joined from Dragon at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Despite Abt struggling for outright pace during those two years, in part due to the Mahindra powertrain which it will ditch for next season, Muller has put in some impressive performances.
This has included four points finishes so far this season, while putting 2016/17 champion and team-mate Lucas di Grassi in the shade for much of the campaign.
But on Tuesday, Abt confirmed that Muller would be leaving the team at the end of the season despite wanting to keep the 32-year-old onboard.
“We’ve progressed together, generally it’s still been a tough couple of years,” Muller told Motorsport.com. “It’s not where this team belongs I think, they can do better than that but obviously the package was what it was.
“We've pulled through those tough times together and grown even closer together as a family, and it’s been a very difficult decision to leave.
“It’s kind of a second family, anything but easy, but I feel like I’m at the point of my career where I’m ready for a new challenge. One that I want to take up on and try to maximise, and obviously you can’t do everything at the same time, so that was one of the consequences.”
Muller’s form caught the eye of Porsche, with the German manufacturer running Muller in a private test session earlier this season as Antonio Felix da Costa struggled for results.
But with da Costa having taken four wins from the last five races, it’s believed Porsche will keep the Portuguese driver for next season.
As a result, Muller is understood to be moving to Porsche customer team Andretti instead where he will replace Norman Nato and partner reigning champion Jake Dennis.
When asked if he was remaining on the Formula E grid next season, Muller replied: “I definitely feel like I have unfinished business here”, before adding with a shrug “I don’t know” when asked if he would be joining Andretti.
Muller will also step down from driving with Peugeot in the World Endurance Championship. As was the case this year between FE Berlin and WEC Spa, there will be another clash next season between the two championships.
“I’m not continuing with Peugeot after the end of this season,” said Muller. “That doesn’t mean that the WEC door is completely shut, it’s still open. I feel very privileged to be able to do both at the moment, I love both championships.
“I definitely see myself doing both sometime down the road in the future but if that’s going to be again during the same year, I don’t know at the moment.”
