(Motorsport-Total.com) – Audi’s start to the 2026 Formula 1 season was mostly bumpy: Gabriel Bortoleto scored points in Australia and Silverstone, but teammate Nico Hülkenberg is still waiting for his first points. The German has come very close several times.
Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: «Difficult» Debut for Liam Lawson
“It was quite frustrating at times to go home without points a few times,” admits Audi race director Allan McNish. “I especially think of Barcelona, where Nico showed a fantastic performance but was then taken out of the race by a rather unfortunate incident.”
This refers to the curious incident where Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson kicked up a pebble that hit the so-called “Safety-Pull” and immediately disabled Hülkenberg’s Audi. Otherwise, the first points for the German would probably have been possible.
Audi has gotten reliability problems under control
McNish emphasizes, however, that Audi is “quite satisfied with progress in all areas,” even though not everything has gone smoothly so far. “I think we got off to a good start, and the car was overall quite fast,” says the Scot.
“We did have some reliability issues and the start of the season was quite difficult, but from Canada onwards we increasingly got it under control and were able to show our performance. In the last three races, actually since Monaco, we have repeatedly knocked on the door of the points.”
Only in Silverstone did Bortoleto finally make it back into the top 10 with eighth place. “So it’s nice to have points on the board now, to consolidate ourselves and to prove to ourselves that we can actually deliver performance.”
Read more Pit lane confusion at Williams: Carlos Sainz warned
“But for that, we also had to improve our processes,” reveals the Audi official. “We had to optimize our working methods at the track – which we, I would say, have done step by step and race by race, up to the point where we are now.”
Audi “quite satisfied with current position”
“I think we are quite satisfied with our current position,” McNish, who supports project leader Mattia Binotto, sums up. However, in the second half of the season, the Ingolstadt team wants to make additional progress and score more points.
“We know the competition, especially Racing Bulls,” says the 56-year-old. “We know that Cadillac is improving strongly, as is Alpine. So we are fighting in the midfield and trying to stay consistent there and work our way forward step by step.”
Whether that will be enough for points in the end also depends on the respective track, because sometimes Audi is ahead of the direct competition, sometimes the team comes away empty-handed again. “Ultimately, we have to make sure that we get the maximum out of our package every weekend.”
Read more Updates Spa: Racing Bulls has the most technical innovations