Alex Mueller

Alex Mueller (\*May 27th, 1990) is a german "Your Motorsport" Driver who is driving for Streamline Engineering in the Formula 1 - Championship in 2023.

## Alex Mueller

Alex Mueller in his Streamline Engineering Car of 2023

## Formula One Career

### First entry

Malaysia 2023

**Beginnings / Karting**

At the age of five, Alex discovered his passion for karting. His talent and "racing spirit" were evident from an early age. Through the renowned karting school *(Norddeutscher Kartklub NDK)* he managed to get into semi-professional karting. Quick success made him jump to the German Kart Championships, where he won impressively at the age of 12. With this achievement in 2002, Mueller was accepted into BMW Motorsport's promotion and development program.

**Formula BMW 2003 - 2005**

Mueller was one of many good drivers in the support program at BMW. In his first Formula BMW season in 2003, he only achieved minor successes in the shadow of Sebastian Vettel, who later won the championship. His best result of the season was a 4th place at the race in Oschersleben. Otherwise, Mueller recorded five failures this season. In 2004 things went much better. With regular podium finishes and a victory at the Nürburgring race, Mueller ended up third in the drivers' standings. The breakthrough came in 2005. With 6 wins in 11 events, Mueller became champion with Eiffeland Racing.

**BMW Test-Driver DTM 2006 - 2007**

In 2006, Mueller was then pushed by BMW Motorsport Director Dr. Mario Theissen. The reason for this was his good performance in the past. In the development program for the DTM, Mueller was supposed to promote BMW's entry into the German Touring Car Championship with simulator work. When BMW scrapped entry plans for 2009 at the end of 2007, Mueller left and switched to Audi.

**DTM 2008 - 2018**

Mueller's departure from formula racing to touring car racing was anything but successful at first. As one of several drivers at Audi, Mueller was the one who scored the fewest points for the Ingolstadt team in 2008. However, the contract clause on the part of Audi for 2009 was drawn because the car manufacturer was convinced of the still young Mueller. This trust then paid off in 2009 and 2010. Mueller got 4 podiums in these years, but no victory. Nevertheless, the development was recognizable. In 2011 and 2012 he achieved 3 wins each before winning the championship in 2013 and 2014. In 2015 to 2017 he was able to fight for the championship for a long time, but did not win another title. During this time, there were repeated speculations that Mueller was once again connected to single-seater racing. After 2018 it should be ready. The Audi contract expired, the move to the Formula Europe Series was pending.

**Formula Europe-Series 2019 - 2022**

For the 2019 season, Mueller signed a contract with the rising-up Repsol Formula Racing Limited - Team (RFR) from Spain. The team of founder Jose Alvaro Sanchez entered Formula Europe in 2017 and had a financially strong sponsor in Repsol. Mueller fully lived up to expectations in his first season. He achieved 3 wins, 5 pole positions and 4 fastest laps. In the overall standings, he finished in 3rd place. In 2020 he got a new teammate in Xavier Gimenez. His arrival caused some trouble in the team, which led to the "Monza scandal" (see below). Mueller's standing in the team suffered as a result but he was able to clearly defeat Gimenez in the team duell. In the overall standings there was a slight step backwards to fifth place. Before the 2021 season it was announced that RFR (Repsol Formula Racing) had achieved a clear further development of the previous year's car. The team made great progress, particularly in the area of ​​aerodynamics. The 2021 season could be dominated right from the start and Mueller showed the necessary class even under pressure and won the title with 7 wins in 15 races. In 2022 he was able to repeat the title win. At the end of the 2022 season, it was announced that James Early's family and the owner of the Formula 1-Team Streamline Engineering were interested in signing Mueller. He finally signed a contract for the 2023 season and is supposed to lead the team there in addition to his talented teammate Tijmen Groenewegen with his experience.

**Formula 1 World Championship Season 2023 - Streamline Engineering**

Mueller's arrival at the team sparked great anticipation ahead of the first race of the season in Malaysia. The Streamline Engineering team was satisfied with the pre-season tests and, as in the lower Formula classes F4 and F3, counted on a few chances. However, the race weekend started mediocre. In a qualifying marked by early rain, Müller only managed 13th place. In the rainy race, things got worse at first. After a spin and contact with teammate Groenewegen, Mueller was still penultimate 19th on lap 10. Numerous failures by the competition characterized this Malaysian GP in the second half of the race, in which Mueller then showed a good race to catch up with a clean drive and finally achieved the first podium finish of his career with third place. At the race weekend in Bahrain, Mueller fell short of the possibilities. Having started from 11th place, he had to change the front wing twice in the race after collisions. The second collision resulted from Alistair Levey's horror crash, who missed the pit entrance at high speed and hit the barrier head-on. He spun back onto the track where Mueller had no chance. Mueller still finished the race in 10th place in the points. A better result would definitely have been possible without incident

**"Monza scandal"**

The Monza scandal was the culmination of a series of internal team problems at Team Repsol Formula Racing Limited in 2020. The trigger was the public preference for driver Xavier Gimenez, who was preferred to his teammate Alex Mueller in the first half of the season, despite poor performance. The relationship between the two drivers first became problematic at the race in Turkey, when Gimenez was preferred in the race strategy and confirmed this at the press conference. Mueller then referred to his contractual status as the team's number 1 driver. After a collision between the two drivers at the race in Imola and a light contact in the opening phase of the race in Portugal, Mueller burst his collar on the radio when he screamed: "Gimenez can only produce junk - fire him!". Mueller was then attacked in the Spanish press. The team left Mueller's comments during the race uncommented. The big scandal then happened at the penultimate race in Monza. Mueller had a chance of winning on race day and on lap 36 set out to lap his teammate, who was thrown back early in the race with a puncture. During this lap on the straight to the Parabolica-curve, Gimenez pulled over late and pushed off Mueller. Mueller lost control of his car and hit the tirewall of the Parabolica at 182 km/h. Mueller suffered a wrist fracture and missed the last race of the formula europe season. He then announced to the media that he would tear up his contract if Gimenez was allowed to drive again for Repsol Formula Racing. Team owner Sanchez then gave in and threw Gimenez out.

**Sponsorships**

Mueller has the following private sponsor partners since his time at Repsol Formula Limited and is a brand ambassador for Hublot, Castrol, ING Bank, Sony and Nike.

**Specials / personal**

Mueller asked Geoff Grammond to develop a fifth part of his Grand Prix Series (PC Game). In 2011 he met with Grammond several times to talk about the in-game physics model and to share his expertise. However, over the years, Grammond rejected the idea of ​​bringing a fifth part onto the market.

Every year, Mueller spends 10% of its earnings to karting schools in Germany to promote young talents in his home country.

Mueller has lived on the Balearic island of Mallorca, near Cala Ratjada, since 2019 after he was given a large property by RFR main sponsor Repsol.