(Motorsport-Total.com) – After Gabriel Bortoleto finished ninth at the 2026 Formula 1 season opener in Australia in early March, Audi has now been waiting for more than two months for another points finish. At the recent race weekend in Miami, Bortoleto and teammate Nico Hülkenberg again came away empty-handed.
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The big problem is primarily reliability. In Miami, for example, he had “a good pace,” Bortoleto reports, explaining that they were about as fast as the two Williams drivers who finished the race in P9 and P10.
However, since Bortoleto started the Grand Prix from 21st on the grid, he ended up twelfth and again without points. Teammate Hülkenberg did not even see the checkered flag after he was unable to participate in the sprint the day before due to a defect.
Bortoleto himself also experienced a race in China where his Audi R26 broke down even before the start. In Miami, there was another problem with his car during qualifying, which ultimately led to his poor starting position on Sunday.
According to the Brazilian himself, all the problems in Miami were different. “To be honest, we had many [problems] this weekend. But none was like the other,” he emphasizes. But why does the defect devil keep striking Audi again and again?
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Bortoleto believes that the series of breakdowns is partly related to the power unit. Because in 2026 Audi supplies engines only to its own factory team – and thus has the same problem as Honda, which exclusively supplies Aston Martin.
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“We are a new engine manufacturer. We have only two cars. There are manufacturers who have eight cars. So you can imagine how much more you can learn when you have such a number of vehicles,” he explains.
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Most teams (eight) are supplied by Mercedes this year, followed by Ferrari (six) and Red Bull (four). Even the Bulls collect twice as much information as Audi because, in addition to Red Bull Racing, they also supply the sister team Racing Bulls.
“We have only me and Nico, and sometimes one of us doesn’t make it to the finish,” Bortoleto explains the disadvantage Audi has in this regard. Nevertheless, he is convinced of the potential of their own package. “So we just have to be patient,” he emphasizes.
In the championship, Williams overtook Audi in Miami. This means they are now only in ninth place, with only the two teams Cadillac and Aston Martin, which have not scored points so far, behind them.
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