Racing Director Allan McNish joined the Audi F1 Team in Miami. The team has yet to score points since he was given that role. As a former driver and Team Principal, he feels the team’s performance is on par with any other weekend. However, he admits he doesn’t think the 2026 Austrian GP will fall to the Audi F1 team’s strengths.
Gabriel Bortoleto believes the limiting factor for Audi will be managing the starts. He emphasised the focus of their upgrades has been drivability and hopes to see more ADUO upgrades in the future. The Brazilian driver is feeling optimistic ahead of the F1 Austrian GP.
No big changes for Audi ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP
Speaking after FP2, McNish explained that this weekend is rather similar to previous weekends in terms of performance. Gabriel Bortoleto was P10 during FP2 of the F1 Austrian GP. Rookie Paul Aron was on track in an Audi for FP1 but wasn’t able to get a clean lap. Similarly, Nico Hülkenberg didn’t manage a clean lap on the soft tyre during FP2.
“Not really. If you look at it, Gab was P10 when we ran there. Nico didn’t get a clean lap in the same way that Paul didn’t get a clean lap this morning when he put on the soft tyre.
The racing director said the medium tyre run was good. He thinks Audi is in good shape ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP. He affirmed that the percentage delta was comparable to any other weekend for the Audi F1 Team.
“But his medium tyre run was good. So from that perspective, I think we’re in that sort of area. As you know, it’s close.
“There is a delta to the cars ahead but the percentage delta is roughly the same as what it normally would be.”
McNish says the power-sensitive circuit doesn’t fall to their strengths
The former British driver explained that the F1 Austrian GP is a power sensitive circuit. In their first year, Audi is down on power. Alongside that, the uphill run to turns 1 and 3 makes things tough.
“No, it is because you’ve got the pull up into the first corner. You’ve got the pull up into turn three, which is a big long straight and up. And then you’ve got the run down into turn four.
The Audi racing director said that the buildup in momentum can be challenging around medium-speed corners. He gave the example of the last two corners and anticipates a challenging weekend at the 2026 Austrian GP.
“So it is quite a power-sensitive circuit. It’s also got some medium-speed corners into it. So if you think of that intersection in the last two, where you can carry that momentum.
McNish finished by saying that the 2026 F1 Austrian GP will bring a balance of losses and gains around different areas of the track. Ultimately, he says that Barcelona was more to their strengths.
“So I think we definitely lose in some areas and we gain back in others. But without doubt, it probably doesn’t fall to our strengths as much as Barcelona did.”
Bortoleto feeling optimistic ahead of the F1 Austrian GP
Garbriel Bortoleto said he is feeling confident ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP. He feels the car has shown potential during FP2. He trusts that he can adapt quickly if the circumstances require it.
“I think I’m confident. I think the car has shown potential today. I’ve been able to adapt quickly, so I’m optimistic for tomorrow.
He acknowledged that there is still some work to be done on the car. He said the Audi F1 team will put it all together and he is looking forward to the F1 Austrian GP.
“Obviously, a lot of still things to do, to improve, to do better in the car, on myself. So we’ll work tonight and try to put it all together.”
Audi’s limiting starts ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP
The Brazilian driver believes the main limitation will be the start of the race. He said the team continues to struggle with it, but he will do his best to optimise on his side. He knows the team is working hard to fix it and beyond that the pace of the car is good.
“I think the main limitations in the race side, it’s still the start, you know, it’s something we struggle and something that I don’t expect to be fixed very quickly. But we can optimise that start that we have right now and make it a bit better. And then in the race, we normally have good pace.
The Audi driver aims to have a clean race ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP. He agreed that the team has already taken some steps to improving their starts.
“So I would say it’s just, you know, doing a clean race. I would say that’s our target.
“I would say we have done some good steps, yes.”
First team to bring the ADUO upgrade
Speaking on the ADUO upgrade, Bortoleto explained that it wasn’t a huge performance upgrade. He said the team has been focused on drivability ahead of the 2026 Austrian GP. Audi was the first team to bring the upgrade, and he agrees the team pushed to be spot on with these things.
“I mean, it was not a huge performance upgrade, you know, our focus was more on drivability and I think it worked quite OK. So, you know, the team has been spot on with these things. We have been working a lot on our drivability since the beginning of the year.”
Though they have been very good on the power unit side, Bortoleto acknowledged that the team has a long way to go. He doesn’t think they gained much speed after the upgrade but affirmed it was purely drivability based.
The 21-year-old hopes to see an upgrade that brings performance on speed. Ahead of the F1 Austrian GP, he said the target of drivability had definite improvement in the last upgrade.
“I think the team in Neuburg, you know, all the power unit side has been very good on that. But again, we have a long way to go. We still have a lot to improve.
“I don’t think we gained any speed by doing this ADUO change. It was purely drivability related. So hopefully in the future, we are able to bring some Aduo stuff, but actually that brings performance on speed.
“But definitely one of the targets we had was drivability and it was definitely an improvement.”
