Yvan Muller:
A Very
Human Hero
Autosport’s Peter Mills speaks with the most successful FIA World Touring Car Championship driver in history about the
challenges of the Guia Circuit, on-track battles, luck and successfully juggling career and family
Muller [who, speaking in September, trailed the
Argentinean by 60 points]. “Second, Citroën
has a very precise simulator. ‘Pechito’ will do
a lot of miles on the simulator and that will help
him a lot. So when he arrives there, the gap
between him and me will be much smaller than
we’d otherwise think.”
In addition to the Moroccan crash, Muller
has two further zero-scores blotting his card.
At Salzburgring the reigning champion was
caught up in another multi-car shunt away
from the lights, and in Slovakia was awarded a
drive-through penalty.
van Muller’s comments are an
acknowledgement that Macau’s
challenging layout, where every
corner is seemingly primed to
ensnare the unwary driver into
unforgiving barriers, could play into his hands
this season.
The four-time FIA World Touring Car Champion
has been on the back-foot in the title race
since round one of this year’s championship
at Marrakech in April. A start-line accident
in North Africa wrecked innocent party
Muller’s Citroën C-Elysée. The advantage
in the FIA WTCC drivers’ standings was
seized by Citroën team-mate José María
‘Pechito’ López.
“You can make a comparison to the final
Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, where
double points are on offer. At Macau it
is almost like there is more than double
points,” continues Muller. “To fight for a title
at Macau, there really is huge pressure. You
can lose everything at Macau because it is so
unpredictable. In the past we’ve seen some
amazing things.”
The 2014 FIA WTCC season has perhaps
also unfolded against perceived wisdom.
Incoming French super-team Citroën Racing
masterfully transferred the domination it
displayed in the FIA World Rally Championship
with Sébastien Loeb to its chosen new arena.
While the performance of the Versailles-based
outfit’s Citroën C-Elysée perhaps exceeded
expectations, Muller’s status as the fastest
man in the FIA WTCC has been threatened by
López, a three-time champion from the supercompetitive TC2000 Argentinean touring
car series. Intriguingly, Muller argues that his
Macau circuit knowledge will perhaps be of
minimal value against track debutant López.
“First of all ‘Pechito’ has enough points to,
potentially, be champion before Macau,” says
“I think this year is not the best of my career
in the FIA WTCC,” reveals Muller, modestly
brushing over four superb wins. “I have three
DNFs, and that has cost me a lot in terms
of championship points. Plus the fact that
‘Pechito’ is very fast, and luck is on his side.
Look at race two in Argentina. I was ahead of
him, and I was as fast as him. Then there was
contact between [Zeng Honda driver Norbert]
Michelisz and myself. José María could use the
opportunity to overtake both of us. That was
my race finished. He was ahead of us and I
had no chance to catch him anymore. At the
moment it is almost impossible to beat him,
because everything he tries works. We are also
in the same car. We’ll see, things can change
and turn around. But it will be impossible if he
doesn’t have any DNFs.”
The measured explanation is pragmatic rather
than an indication of defeat. In years past
Muller has stated that winning another FIA
WTCC title would not change his life. But the
hunger to win regularly surfaces, exemplified
by an unrepentant outburst over López’s role
in his Austrian crash in May. What would it
mean to win a fifth FIA WTCC title at the wheel
of a Citroën, either this season or in 2015?
“My answer will not change,” is Muller’s hairtrigger response. “I am a four-time world
champion, and it did not change my life
From Top: Muller at Macau in 2013 (Photo: MGPC)
The face of a champion (Photo: FIA WTCC)
61st Macau Grand Prix
69
compared to when I was not champion. To
win another title will not change my life. It is
just a game, and we don’t [judge] our life on
that. If I am not always happy, it’s not because
I don’t win. I am fine finishing second if I know
I did my best. I am unhappy when I know the
car is good enough to win and I don’t produce
everything required from my side because I
was not good enough.
“My motivation and satisfaction comes from
doing the best I can. I want to win races just
because this gives me the opportunity to sign
a contract for the following year. Personally,
I don’t need to win. I just need to win to
have a job.”
In addition to driving commitments for Citroën
and managerial duties for Yvan Muller Racing,
which fields Porsche and Mitjet cars in
French domestic racing, the 45-year-old has
also had to juggle the responsibilities that
come with the arrival of a new baby daughter
last December.
“I have to admit that for six or seven months,
from last winter until June, it was quite busy
and complicated for me,” says Muller candidly.
“I have to admit I did too many things. From
Marrakech until the end of June I was every
weekend out of home, 14 or 15 weekends
in row, with Citroën or with my team. It was
my fault. I wanted to do both and that was a
mistake. In the future I will change that and I
will organise my life differently.”
It is to Muller’s credit that he displayed no
obvious drop-off in performance. There
was, however, an acclimatisation period to
the new generation Citroën ‘TC1’ car, after
four years racing an ‘S2000’ spec’ Chevrolet
Cruze. For Macau, Muller reveals his biggest
concern is remembering the dimensions of his
new mount.
“One thing about these new TC1 cars is it is
difficult to know where the wheel arches are,
because they are wider than the body. At the
beginning of the season I had some problems,
and even clipped a few bollards at Paul Ricard
[in France]. At Macau you need to go very
close to the walls so it could be difficult!”
Reflecting over his tribulations, Muller is keen
to dispel any suggestion that his focus has
shifted to 2015.
From top left anti-clockwise: Title rival and team mate José María López (Photo: MGPC); A
lighter moment with Tiago Monteiro (Photo: MGPC); The 2014 FIA WTCC Citroën line-up (left to
right): Ma Qing Hua, Sébastien Loeb, Yvan Muller and José María López (Photo: FIA WTCC); Muller
in action in the new Citroën C-Elysée (Photo: FIA WTCC)
70
61st Macau Grand Prix
“This year I pushed my own limits, not only
because López is fast, but at the same time
because I put some trouble in my way; I
mean the things we talked about before with
Yvan Muller Racing and the busy calendar. I
don’t think I was presumptuous that I could
do everything, but I put too much on my
shoulders. But this season is not finished. I’m
here to fight right until the end.”