Formula E: Abt Cupra at Misano 2024

Motorsport can be brutal. And leave a bad taste in your mouth even when you think you’ve done it. They know it well in the team garage ABT Cupra Of System Ebut Nico Müller, the Swiss driver who, as well as single-seat racing, knows it best. dance it also participates in the WEC world championship. I followed him, session after session, during the Italian round of Formula E, which just ended at Misano, going through the highlights of his race weekend in his garage. And discover a world made with precision, silence and, above all, management techniques that I would never have expected..

A few centimeters. Müller looked very fast on the jump circuit all weekend, finishing two qualifying sessions in fourth place. In race 1 he suffered a minor accident which damaged his wing and saw him finish eleventh, behind teammate Lucas di Grassi and just outside the points. In race 2, however, the Swiss managed to stay in the lead until the end, moving into third place in the final laps. It looked complete, with the Cupra podium, but at the finish line it was outmaneuvered by Nick Cassidy’s Jaguar, who exited the final corner well and managed to overtake Müller by a very narrow margin. A few centimeters: just five hundredths of a second. A true joke, but it closes a weekend in which the Abt Cupra team continued to grow, improving its performance session after session.

Software is the key. While in the Cupra garage I was also able to speak to Xavi Serra, the team’s technical director, who explained to me how in the last few races they have been able to improve lap after lap, closing the gap with the other teams. platform. One of the basic details of these electric seats, explains Serra, is the power train management software: it is provided only in part by the engine manufacturer (Mahindra in the case of the Abt Cupra, which, not satisfied with the performance, terminated the contract. and it will use Porsche engines from next year) and each team can customize it, adjust various parameters and create skills that are also important for street electrics.