Nico Hülkenberg and Audi Racing Director Allan McNish were left to lament a bad start for the German driver at the 2026 F1 United States GP as he finished 11th. It’s the tenth time this season an Audi has finished in that spot in a Grand Prix.
Having qualified in P12, that became P11 at the start thanks to a grid penalty for Arvid Lindblad. However, anti-stall at the start left him a sitting duck on the run to T1, falling to P16 by the end of the first lap. The contact between Albon and Alonso actually gave him a spot back as the Spanaird tumbled to 17th.
The German made quick work of Sainz, before eventually clearing the Thai a few laps later. A lot of valuable race time was lost there. He also passed an ailing Bearman soon after.
After going all the way to Lap 29 on his softs, he pitted. Hülkenberg passed Ocon, before Lindblad headed to the pits again to move him into 11th. In the end, that is where the 39-year-old finished.
Nico Hülkenberg says Audi analysis required after terrible start at 2026 F1 United States GP
Speaking in the print media pen, the 2025 British GP podium finisher explained what went on off the line.
“Yeah, I think so [the maximum result]. After that, yeah, bad start.
“Went into anti-stall, but not instantly, quite late. I did a few metres, so I did the first bit of the start, and then anti-stall, and then it felt a bit off. I’ll need to go back and check what exactly happened.
“Yeah, obviously that put us a bit backwards, and then picked up the easier ones, and then put us back where we started.
“But obviously then, yeah, we already had quite a big gap to Pierre and Liam. We’re doing the same pace, so it’s hard to recover that.”
While the speed in clean air was good, the damage was done in the first few hundred metres of the race.
“I think we were at a very similar pace. But you know, when you’re 8 or 10 seconds behind, you’re doing the same stuff, the gap will stay the same.
“But that gap, obviously, is a result of that poor Lap 1.”
Audi’s Allan McNish very positive about Audi’s pace at the 2026 F1 United States GP
The Scottish Racing Director was very upbeat about the speed shown by Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto at Circuit of the Americas. In the first stint, the German and Brazilian drivers went to Laps 29 and 26 respectively having started on the soft.
McNish was also pleased by the fact both his drivers could make passes and work their way through the pack. The second Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto ended up P13, two spots behind his stablemate.
“Now you’re at the point of the season where reliability is quite good. It’s not like the beginning of the year.
“Pace was very good actually. If you look at us relative to the fastest of the Alpine or the fastest of the Racing Bulls, then we were right on it. Obviously we were catching on Gasly at the end as well.
“And the other thing which was very strong was our tyre capability. We could hold on to the tyre, especially the soft, longer than we actually did. But we decided strategically it was the right time.”
Plenty of overtaking by Hülkenberg and Bortoleto which was a positive for McNish
“And then the other factor that again was positive was both cars could cut through the field so you could actually overtake up into one and then hold it and pull away. So I think there was a lot of positives there.
“The negative was the fact that one started in the last row and the other one had a problem with the anti-stall at the start and so dropped to 16th. So once we got into turn one, then we were on a fight back mission.
“And so in terms of the operation, in terms of the speed, in terms of the racing and everything else was all really good. So they got to pretty much where the maximum they could have got to. Unless somebody stopped, as you said, and no one did.”
Was P9 possible in Austin on Sunday?
When it was put to McNish if he felt Nico Hülkenberg could have finished 9th in the 2026 F1 United States GP with a normal start and stayed in 11th, the three-time Le Mans winner felt it was on.
Hülkenberg extended four and five laps further than Gasly and Lawson respectively before his only stop. After he pitted, the pace between the three drivers was very even. One lap the German could be slightly quicker, the next two the Kiwi and Frenchman might have edged it. At the end, Lap 1 was key.
“If you look at the performance and you look at where we were with the tyre, yeah, that was a possibility. It was a possibility.
“I think we executed on timing, on defence and also on attack on the strategy side well. But it was quite clear that we had the pace and it was quite clear that we also had the strategy options to be able to get it done.
“We didn’t, because we were 16th.”
