With the 2026 F1 Canadian GP weekend hosting the third Sprint event of the season, F1 teams face a hectic weekend where severely limited practice time will put pressure on car setup and execution.
Following a challenging overall weekend in Miami, the Audi F1 Team heads to Montreal with a clear determination to bounce back. As they prepare to tackle the unforgiving yet iconic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Audi prioritizes having a clean weekend.
Realistic approach for Audi’s F1 journey
At the Miami Grand Prix, Audi passed yet another point-less Formula 1 round for the third time due to technical problems on both cars. Though the team endured a difficult weekend at the Miami Grand Prix, Allan McNish remains realistic.
While Gabriel Bortoleto crossed the line in 12th, his German teammate Nico Hülkenberg suffered from a DNF at the Miami GP. Nevertheless, McNish emphasized that such challenges are completely normal on the path to success during a debut season, and his focus has already shifted to the 2026 F1 Canadian GP.
As the third Sprint event of the year, teams will face a very limited track time, leaving them with just a single practice session on Friday to fine-tune setups and gather data.
While the intense format places immense pressure on the grid, McNish stated that Audi’s immediate priority is hitting the ground running in FP1 to lock in their baseline setup for the rest of the weekend.
“Canada is always an exciting, yet demanding weekend: this track doesn’t leave much room for mistakes and it’s important to be sharp from the very first session.
“Miami was a tough event for us, but we knew there would be challenging weekends along the way in our first season. We must clean up a few areas and execute our race weekend well if we want to maximise our speed and potential.
“Sprint weekends put even more focus on preparation and making the most of all track time, so it’s important we maximise every lap available in the only practice session on Friday.”
Building confidence is the key to a clean 2026 F1 Canadian GP
The Audi F1 Team driver pairing expressed their excitement ahead of the 2026 F1 Canadian GP.
Acknowledging the high-pressure nature of Sprint weekends, Hülkenberg prescribed that building confidence early in the event is key to delivering a cleaner and more successful weekend overall.
“Montreal is always a great event to come back to: It’s an iconic track and the atmosphere around the city and circuit makes it a really enjoyable weekend.
“After Miami, the main thing for us is to reset quickly and put together a cleaner weekend overall. We know we have the potential to do well, but it’s a matter of delivering from the start to the end of the event.
“Sprint events always make things more hectic, so it will be important to build our confidence early in the weekend and move forward from there.”
His teammate Bortoleto highlighted the special atmosphere surrounding the weekend in Montreal.
“I’m looking forward to being back in Canada. Montreal tends to deliver some pretty good races and the atmosphere around it, both at the track and in the city, always makes it a special weekend for drivers and fans alike.
“Having raced here last year, I’m quite familiar with how important it is to be comfortable with the car straight away, especially with this being a Sprint event.
“Our target is to put everything together more cleanly than we did in the last round and maximise the time we have on track from the start of the weekend.”
Promoting the F1 Academy along the Formula 1
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will also be hosting the second round of the 2026 F1 Academy season. Audi’s F1 Academy driver Emma Felbermayr arrives in Canada at the top of the Drivers’ Standings. A very busy weekend consisting of three races in Montreal awaits the young Austrian.
McNish does not miss the opportunity to express his support for Felbermayr, hoping she will continue to shine after her strong season opener at the 2026 F1 Academy Chinese GP.
“It’s also good to have F1 Academy back this weekend. Emma made a really strong start to the season in Shanghai: it’s going to be a long season, but this will be another good opportunity for her to build on her good opener and keep pushing at the front.”
