After a mixed start to the 2026 F1 season for Audi, Gabriel Bortoleto noted that the one-month break between Suzuka and Miami will allow for crucial improvement through simulator sessions.
Audi’s debut has proved difficult, as the team has faced adaptation challenges with the new regulations, along with reliability issues and slow race starts.
So far, Audi sits in P8 in the Teams’ Standings with 2 points, secured by Bortoleto at the 2026 F1 Australian GP. However, the Brazilian wasn’t able to find more points across the next rounds, with technical issues causing a DNS in Shanghai, followed by a P13 finish in Japan.
Now, F1 faces a one-month break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, with the 2026 season set to resume in Miami on May 1-3.
Making up for lost track time
Speaking during media day in Japan in a print session, Bortoleto said his main focus during the break will be maximizing simulator work to make up for time lost on track.
“To be honest, I fill my calendar with splitting simulator days in Switzerland and in Germany. Where we have the simulator facilities for the engine. So we have a lot of work to be done in both of the sims. And yeah, I basically will be spending a lot of time in both the facilities. Trying to optimise the time that we would be on track. Spending time with engineers and improving things that we need to.”
When asked about whether this time off is positive or negative, given that it involves less time on track, but allows for more time to develop the car, Bortoleto said:
“I don’t think it really matters right. I think it’s the same for everyone. Obviously, teams that are a bit more on top of things. Probably for them it matters a bit less than for teams that are still in a huge learning curve.”
He continued: “But we also have, you know, nowadays in F1, we have a lot of facilities that help us. Tools that help us to develop the car and things offline when we are not on track. So we’ll be still making a lot of progress and work in the dyno and a lot of simulator things. Obviously, the biggest learning you can get is when you are on track. But we’re also happy to be doing work in the dynamometer sessions and in the simulator sessions.”
“They all deserve it”: Bortoleto on how the break benefits team members
The 2026 F1 season began with a busy pre-season testing schedule. The Barcelona shakedown kicked off the year on January 26-30, with Bahrain testing following on February 11-13 and February 18-20, ahead of the Australian GP on March 6-8.
While this allowed teams to thoroughly test the new generation of cars and the regulations, it also limited important time at home and with families.
Now, the current break allows teams to finally take time off without the stress of long-distance travel.
“I don’t think I’ll be spending more time at home than what I would be,” Bortoleto said.
Turning his attention to the wider Audi team members, he continued: “I think it’s incredible for them. I think they all deserve it. You know, as a racing driver, even if… I’m on track always. But these people, they normally arrive earlier than I do and they leave after I do. Because they have much work to be done. So for them it’s good to spend some time with family and be able to be a bit more home for sure.”
