(Motorsport-Total.com) – With two World Championship points, Audi is currently in ninth place in the Constructors’ World Championship. Gabriel Bortoleto finished ninth in the Ingolstadt team’s Formula 1 debut in Australia, but since then he and teammate Nico Hülkenberg have not scored any further points.
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Audi has now been without points in Formula 1 for more than two months, but Group CEO Gernot Döllner emphasizes to Sport Bild nonetheless: “I am satisfied with our start to the season and basically see the team on a good path.”
“After the first races, we established ourselves in the midfield, and the car’s performance is encouraging,” explains Döllner. Indeed, Audi did not score in the last three races but was especially close in China and Japan.
Hülkenberg finished just outside the points in eleventh place in both Asian races, and most recently in Miami, Bortoleto moved up from 21st on the grid to 12th. “We were aware from the start that a project of this scale requires patience and perseverance,” emphasizes Döllner.
This applies “especially for a newcomer like us with a completely newly developed power unit.” It was mainly technical problems that have frequently held Audi back so far. Even recently in Miami, there were several failures spread over the whole weekend.
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While Döllner is satisfied with the performance, he therefore explains: “At the same time, the race entries show us where there is still room for improvement – whether in our processes or on the technical side. These insights are an important part of our learning curve.”
“We remain realistic, learn every day, and use the gained experience to further develop the project step by step. Based on that, I am convinced that we will continue to exploit our potential,” says the Audi CEO.
In the championship, Audi has fallen behind Williams in Miami. While the Grove team brought both cars into the points there, Audi now ranks only ahead of newcomer Cadillac and troubled Aston Martin after the third consecutive zero score, both of which are still completely pointless.
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