Gabriel Bortoleto believes that Audi‘s F1 chassis is capable of fighting near the front, arguing that the team’s Power Unit is the main factor that’s holding them back.
Bortoleto points to straight-line deficit in Spielberg for Audi
Audi entered its debut Formula 1 season as a full factory team, developing its own Power Unit in-house rather than using one from another manufacturer.
Speaking after Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Austrian GP, Bortoleto said Audi’s Power Unit was the main reason the team missed out on Q3, after he qualified P12 while teammate Nico Hülkenberg took P14.
“Absolutely, I mean, I think if we had the same top speed as Mercedes or Red Bull, we would have been fighting for top three,” he said, suggesting that the chassis is much better than their results indicate.
“Check, just easy, I think you guys have access to GPS data. So you can compare the corners in Q2 and we are very quick in basically all the corners, we missed a lot in the straights. Don’t get me wrong, we still need to improve our car, but I think we have been doing it and I think we can, we could easily be fighting there, you know, we lose massively on the straights, unfortunately, but that’s the reality right now.”
Asked whether Audi’s chassis is on the same level as the top teams, Bortoleto said: “Looks like it, you know, obviously there’s tracks that fit us a bit more and a bit less, I think this weekend I can say that we were on that side.”
Bortoleto and Hülkenberg went on to finish P11 and P12 respectively in Sunday’s race, narrowly missing out on points.
McNish looks at the complete package for Audi F1
In response to Bortoleto’s statement, Audi’s Racing Director Allan McNish agreed that Audi’s chassis is promising, but stressed that the car must be judged as a complete package rather than separating the chassis from the power unit.
“I think it’s quite clear in the numbers where we are on medium and high speed. And we’re very good there. We’re very efficient as well. We can still improve a little bit in the low speed. That’s also a few other bits and pieces,” he said.
“Top 3, top 4, I wouldn’t… I think, you know, it doesn’t matter. I’ll put it a different way to you. It is a car and a power unit. And that’s the important thing is. Separating them off is, in theory, a way to do it. But in practise, you need the Power Unit to make the car go around the corner. As well as the chassis itself. So it’s a complete package. And that’s what we talk about as a complete package. And the driver is part of that package.”
He concluded: “And so, you know, in reality, that’s where we are. And I think we’re bouncing in and around that 5th place. 6th place, depending on the circuit characteristics, with a complete car.”
