The Audi F1 Team experienced a tough afternoon at the 2026 F1 Italian GP in Monza. Gabriel Bortoleto crossed the finish line in eleventh place, just ahead of teammate Nico Hülkenberg in twelfth. Following the race, Bortoleto, Hülkenberg and racing director Allan McNish spoke to break down the difficult weekend.
Bortoleto identifies recurring start issues
Reflecting on the weekend, Bortoleto acknowledged in the print media pen that he gave everything on track but underlined their struggles at race starts.
He explained that these poor starts have been a recurring problem for the team since the beginning of the season, forcing him into recovery mode on the opening lap every single weekend. The 21-year-old tumbled to 16th on the restart, until a great comeback saw him pass the Williams and Haas drivers, and even Colapinto before the Argentinian driver got back ahead and drove off into the distance.
Catching up required using the tyres too much and the Brazilian driver admitted surprise at how fast the Racing Bulls proved to be on the straights.
“You said it all, I think I gave it all, I did everything I could there but obviously, you know, I’m not going to be repeating every time, I think starts are a problem for us, we know it from the beginning of the season. Then you need to you know recover everything you lose in lap one, it’s always a pain you know and then it’s not that we can have always one second advantage on everyone. It was tough to get back through and overtake everyone, for sure used a bit too much the tyres but anyway I think you know getting the Racing Bulls today was a bit something that I didn’t expect and they were super quick on the straights and yeah we just need to keep working.”
Despite missing out on the points, Bortoleto thanked the team for putting the car in a competitive position considering their difficulties.
Looking ahead, he expressed optimism about the upcoming rounds and confirmed that further upgrades are in the progress, though he noted that team management would provide the timeline for their arrival.
“I think next race is going to be interesting for us, I can only thank the team for, you know putting the car anyway in a position that it is today because it was not said that we would finish P11 and maybe even in the points depending on what happens ahead of us.
“We do but you need to ask Mattia about it when they are coming but hopefully they come soon because we need it.”
Hülkenberg on strategy changes
Hülkenberg evaluated his race for Audi at the 2026 F1 Italian GP after dropping out of the points, detailing the team’s decision to try an alternative strategy by doing a free pit stop under the VSC that left him without a tow train.
While he gained a few positions during the opening lap of the second start, he acknowledged that a sudden loss of pace on the following laps allowed other drivers to pass him on the straights. He left Gabriel Bortoleto through at one point also as the Brazilian was on mediums versus his hards.
“Yeah, I know, it’s hard to do obviously a bit of a cheaper stop, but then you’re out there by yourself without the tow train. We knew it was going to be difficult, but at the time I was out of the points and we said, obviously if that’s the case, we need to try and do something different and offset. But yeah, shame the second start was decent, not the start so much, but lap one I massively, I gained two, three positions, was in a really good spot.
“I think I was, I feel like I wouldn’t say it was maybe only Arvid in front of me and then me. But then lap two and three, I was like, I don’t know what happened, if there’s an issue, but I was just sitting back on the straight and just got repassed by two, three cars. And yeah, kind of, I don’t know, it was a runaway train from there and you do need to check what happened.”
Addressing upcoming races with long straights like Las Vegas, the German driver acknowledged that they present difficulties, but he is optimistic that the team is still quite competitive. Nonetheless, he noted that the upcoming circuits are not quite as extreme as the maximum top speed and energy deployment demands at the 2026 F1 Italian GP in Monza.
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, they’re not quite as extreme, obviously, as here. This is obviously taking it to the max in terms of top speed and energy deployment.
“The other two circuits, obviously, they have one super long straight, but the rest is a bit different. So, no, I mean, optimistic. We’re still, obviously, relatively competitive.
“Just didn’t have the cleanest starts and stuff, which is then difficult. “
He also addressed a tense wheel-to-wheel battle with Liam Lawson on the run to Turn 4, pointing out that the Kiwi has a signature move of squeezing rivals without leaving space. No action was taken.
While he has no hard feelings, he admitted the moment felt tricky at high speeds.
“Yeah, he just likes to squeeze. He always likes to squeeze people when you go next to him. He never really wants to leave the car with, it’s his signature.
“It’s no hard feeling, but it’s just a bit tricky.
“We need to see from the outside, but, you know, briefings we said that this should be taken seriously and especially at those speeds. Felt a bit sketchy at the time in the car.”
McNish breaks down restart dynamics at the 2026 F1 Italian GP
Audi Racing Director Allan McNish clarified the tactical decisions and position changes between the two drivers after the race restart.
He highlighted how energy deployment and tyre differences created massive speed variations, leading to wheel-to-wheel fights with Ollie Bearman and Franco Colaptino.
McNish emphasised that the position swap resulted purely from tyre and speed deltas rather than pre-planned team orders.
“Gabi was on a different tyre [medium]. And so basically Gabi didn’t get a good restart, so the second start, and dropped behind Nico, he was in a different tyre [hard]. And the way that the energy deployment is, as well, gives big speed deltas.”
He pointed out that later in the race, when Hülkenberg switched from hard to medium tyres, he was able to come back towards Bortoleto with significant lap time advantage. Ultimately the German needed another lap or two to pass him.
“And we saw that with the fight with Ollie Bearman, we saw it with the fight with Colapinto, we saw it with the fight there. And so it was purely on a different tyre, had a little bit more speed at that point, had a big overtake opportunity, and just overtook.
“You know, you also saw at the end of the race, was once we switched with Nico, from the hard on to the medium, he came back at Gabi, and delta was going to be about two or three seconds at the end of the race.
“So, you know, I think it was related, but it was related to that, it wasn’t any strategy side of things.”
