The 2026 F1 Miami GP was a tough weekend for Audi with both its drivers, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg. While an outstanding recovery drive from Bortoleto at the Sunday race offered a glimpse of the German team’s true potential, the car’s reliability issues continue to give them a difficult time with their progress.
Currently sitting in ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship with two points, Audi occasionally shows promising performances. Nevertheless, as its Racing Director Allan McNish explains, the team continues to experience operational problems and reliability issues with its 2026 F1 car, like other teams on the grid.
Disqualification of Bortoleto at the 2026 F1 Miami GP
For Bortoleto, Sunday started in the ruins of getting disqualified from the Sprint race. However, this limitation quickly turned into a showcase of skill and raw pace.
Before the Grand Prix qualifying, it was confirmed that the Brazilian driver had been disqualified from his P11 finish in the Sprint. Technical checks revealed that the engine intake air pressure on his car had exceeded the maximum limit, forcing him to start Sunday’s main event all the way back in P21.
Despite this massive setback, Bortoleto impressed everyone with a comeback. Fighting his way through the field, he managed to cross the finish line in P12, just outside the points.
A pragmatic takeaway from an infringement
Addressing Bortoleto’s technical infringement, McNish was pragmatic, saying that though it is not the ideal scenario these are the rules and they will learn from their mistake.
“It was obviously, it’s not something that was performance beneficial yesterday for Gabi. However, the penalty is in or out. That’s the rules.
“However, I think as you mentioned, we do have to improve on that. That’s a clear focus where we are. It’s also a clear learning for a new operation as well.”
Audi is not the only team having these issues
During his print media session, McNish was quick to point out that Audi is not the only team that is experiencing the unreliability of the 2026 F1 power units. This technical issue about the new 2026 F1 cars has become a major topic of discussion in the paddock.
Nevertheless, McNish highlighted that Audi faces a steeper hill in order to overcome these reliability issues compared to the other F1 team who have been in the sport for years.
“Obviously, we don’t want them. That’s for sure. But I think if you look, a lot of PU manufacturers are having some issues. It’s not just sitting on us. If I look at the start of Antonelli, for example, the last one. I look at it also here. If I look at a few other deployments. So I think there is a lot of areas that everybody is trying to manage, control, and also learn about.
“The more learning, and certainly from us, we learn about a lot more than some of the others. Because they are already in the system with, you know, understanding 75% of it. Definitely we need to tidy up those. There’s no question about it.”
