One of the new teams of the 2026 F1 season, Audi, had a relatively better second day on track at the Barcelona shakedown compared to its rough start with a couple of stoppages.
Audi’s technical boss James Key reviewed their second day and elaborated on their team priorities to the F1 website.
All about realibility for Audi in 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown
Despite taking over from Sauber, Audi entered the game of Formula 1 with their brand new car and power unit. Thus, before heading into their first season, Barcelona shakedown plays a key role in determining what the car lacks.
Emphasising the freshness of their power unit, Key stated that the team’s current focus is on getting the fundamentals figured out and setting a reliable data point for the car. Audi has raised red flags and could only manage to run less than 30 laps on their first day due to mechanical problems.
Nevertheless, after having a smoother second day, Key claimed they took a step forward with the car. The Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg returndd to the track with 68 laps on Wednesday.
“This test is a prove-out test of a very new car for everyone, but particularly for us, with a very new power unit as well.
“This is all about reliability and getting the fundamentals figured out.
“On that basis, although we had a little bit of delay – or quite a bit of delay in the end on the first day, for various reasons, which are all fixable.
“But this is why we test, we don’t want to be discovering this in Melbourne. Today has shown some better progress.
“So a little delay in the morning was a hydraulic leak, a real basic thing.
“But then this afternoon, we’ve got back on track and we’ve done a lot of laps, so a step forward today I think.”
On target
In order to build a reliable car, collecting data as reference points is critical. Key’s main target for the Barcelona shakedown is testing their gearbox and power unit as much as they can. The British engineer claimed they are on their target at the moment.
“What we really needed to do is just get laps on the car. My colleagues in Neuburg on the power unit side have got no track reference data at all. This is the first time they’re actually gonna get track data for their power unit and for the gearbox as well.
“So I think it’s a case of doing that and beginning to tune all these complex energy recovery strategies and all the various other things that go with a ’26 car.
“At the moment, I’d say on that basis, we’re on target. Of course the list is never-ending in terms of what you really want to do. But provided we can have a good third day, I think we’ll come away pretty pleased.”
Nothing unexpected took place
Being aware of the fact that Audi’s 2026 car is still immature, Key stated that nothing unexpected happened in terms of the car’s performance or failures yet. To him, the red flags they caused on their first day weren’t surprising as well.
“Nothing unexpected actually. I think had we run faultlessly from the outset, that would have been a very pleasant surprise.
“We’ve seen plenty of red flags. It’s a very very immature car still at the moment for everyone. But nothing particularly surprising.
“This is really a mechanical test. The performance will become the priority later. Nothing surprising other than just working through everything we had to do.”
Key says Audi focused on their own issues at 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown
Audi’s power unit was not reliable on their first day at the Barcelona shakedown. On the other hand, another rookie power unit manufacturer, Red Bull, performed way better. However, Key emphasised that the current tests are not being conducted to compare teams with each other. It is a time to focus on internal issues of the car and fix them before starting the season in Melbourne.
“For a first test like this -given our newness, I know that sort of the Red Bull teams have got a similar situation with the new power unit- it’s very much focused internally at the moment.
“Of course, testing schedules and testing plans will all be totally different from one team to the other. So, you can’t go comparing anything particularly or certainly. It’s not a time to look at lap times at this stage. It’s all about the finer details. We can see that there’s some laps going on by others, but we’re very focused on ourselves right now.”
