Audi’s recent progress has raised an intriguing question heading into the second half of the 2026 Formula 1 season: does the R26 now have the fifth-best chassis on the grid? The German manufacturer’s power-unit deficit continues to mask some of the car’s strengths, but its performance through the corners has increasingly placed it among the strongest packages outside Formula 1’s leading teams.
Improvements made over the past few months allowed Audi to reach the summer break eighth in the Constructors’ Championship. Between Silverstone and Budapest, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg scored ten points across three races, ending a run of seven consecutive weekends without a point between Shanghai and Spielberg.
Although the championship table paints a relatively clear picture of the midfield hierarchy, Audi enters the break as arguably the most in-form team behind an excellent Racing Bulls operation. Upgrade packages introduced in Montreal and Spielberg delivered an important step forward, while the ADUO-authorised engine update introduced in Barcelona improved driveability and helped Audi remain involved in the battle for meaningful positions.
Racing Bulls has nevertheless developed more effectively than any of its immediate rivals so far and carries a significant advantage into the second half of the campaign. At the same time, Audi has already put in motion the longer-term plan through which it expects to reach a level capable of competing for race victories around 2028 or 2029.
Audi R26 chassis strength is being hidden by its power-unit deficit
“I think our car is quite fast in the corners. We believe we are even the fourth-best team in terms of chassis,” Mattia Binotto said several months ago, making no attempt to play down Audi’s confidence in the R26.
Following Red Bull’s subsequent improvements, Audi is now reportedly regarded by some of its competitors as having the fifth-best car in terms of chassis performance. What continues to weigh heavily on the R26 is its power unit, which in its first season of competition has not yet reached the level of the strongest engines. That makes Audi’s fight with Racing Bulls particularly challenging. The Hinwil-based operation is effectively competing with the Faenza team for fifth-force status, yet compensating through the corners for a power-unit deficit that can amount to more than half a second per lap is far from easy. It is a situation with similarities to the performance differences seen between Mercedes and Ferrari during the first half of the season.
Audi’s first ADUO upgrade transformed low-speed performance
Mattia Binotto’s team has already used one of the two development opportunities available to upgrade its power unit this year. The first ADUO engine specification arrived in Barcelona with the specific objective of improving the car’s driveability through slow corners, and the change produced the intended results.
According to AutoRacer estimates, the upgrade delivered an effective performance gain equivalent to approximately nine horsepower compared with the previous specification, largely thanks to the introduction of a smaller turbocharger. The improvement translated into significantly stronger acceleration out of low-speed corners. From Barcelona through to Budapest, those sections were no longer the chronic weakness they had represented for the R26 earlier in the season.
Combined with the chassis upgrade packages introduced in Montreal and Spielberg, the power-unit change has helped turn Audi into the strongest midfield car in terms of overall cornering performance.
Only Racing Bulls can currently match Audi through the corners
As the season has progressed, Alpine and Haas have gradually fallen away from the regular points battle after experiencing less productive development curves than their rivals. Racing Bulls is the only midfield team that has consistently managed to match Audi’s recent progress.
The difference is that Racing Bulls benefits from a stronger power unit, giving the Faenza car a performance advantage that Audi still has to overcome elsewhere around the lap. In qualifying trim, the gap can reach approximately four tenths of a second per lap. Over a race distance, however, that difference changes considerably, shrinking to just over one tenth.
That contrast highlights the unusual position Audi currently occupies. The R26 can be extremely competitive through the corners, but the overall lap-time picture remains distorted by the performance it gives away through the powertrain.
Hungarian GP showed the real potential of the Audi R26
The Hungarian Grand Prix provided perhaps the clearest illustration of the current situation. On a circuit where outright power and electrical energy management have less influence on lap time than at many other venues, Audi was around three tenths behind Racing Bulls in qualifying but performed slightly better in terms of race pace.
The Hungaroring therefore offered Audi an opportunity to expose more of the R26’s chassis potential without its power-unit weakness having the same influence seen at more power-sensitive circuits. That performance also explains why expectations surrounding the chassis have risen considerably. While Audi still has important work to complete before it can consistently challenge the established leaders, the areas in which the R26 is already competitive provide a strong foundation for further development.
Audi shifts power-unit focus towards 2027
Audi’s strategy for the second half of the season will differ from Ferrari’s. The German manufacturer is not expected to rely on further power-unit upgrades during the remainder of 2026, instead concentrating its engine resources on the 2027 specification, which is not expected to represent a dramatic departure from the current architecture.
Ferrari, by contrast, has continued working towards further engine development, including reliability testing for its planned Monza power-unit upgrade.
Audi will instead continue bringing significant chassis updates during the second half of the campaign. Those developments will serve two purposes: putting greater pressure on Racing Bulls in the fight at the front of the midfield and protecting Audi against Aston Martin’s recovery.
The latter threat has become more relevant following the introduction of Aston Martin’s heavily revised package, with Fernando Alonso backing the AMR26B to deliver further improvements as the season continues.
For Audi, the challenge is therefore increasingly clear. The power unit remains the R26’s biggest limitation, but the chassis is beginning to demonstrate how much potential may be hidden underneath that deficit. If the upcoming aerodynamic developments continue the progress made since Montreal and Spielberg, the battle with Racing Bulls could become one of the most interesting technical contests of Formula 1’s midfield during the second half of 2026.
