After months of intense work between factory and track, Audi heads into the start of the new Formula 1 season with broadly positive feelings. The project is still evolving and the power unit is brand new, but compared to the first outings in January, the overall picture now looks far more solid. Making predictions remains premature, especially in a context where many competitive benchmarks are still hidden, yet inside the garage confidence appears to be prevailing.
Binotto: “Significant progress over these days”
Providing an update on the situation was Mattia Binotto, who described a long and demanding winter that began from a far-from-ideal position, considering the last two seasons with Sauber: “It has been a long and intense pre-season, and the team has shown great dedication since our first outing at the beginning of January,” explained the head of the project.
The squad faced a clear list of areas requiring improvement, with several aspects of the car still needing refinement. However, according to the former Ferrari team principal, the response from all sites involved was unified and determined: “We started from a rather challenging position, but the reaction has been very strong across all departments,” Binotto added, highlighting the coordinated work between Hinwil, Neuburg and Bicester.
The development path has not been entirely smooth, yet tangible progress has been made: “Step by step we addressed many of the critical points and made significant improvements. We have not solved everything, but the development rate and the team’s attitude have been very encouraging.” Looking ahead to the opening rounds of the championship, the Italian manager avoided bold claims but admitted he feels positive about the direction taken by the Audi F1 project.
Both drivers pleased with six days in Bahrain
After a Barcelona shakedown aimed at ‘stress-testing’ component reliability, the focus shifted in Bahrain to fully understanding the new single-seater. The work concentrated on widening the car’s operating window in order to gather valuable data ahead of the first races of the season. The total mileage—an impressive 711 laps at Sakhir—demonstrated the effectiveness of this preparation, particularly considering the debut of the new Audi power unit.
Unlike Ferrari and Mercedes, which benefit from additional data through their customer teams, Audi is the sole user of its own engine, meaning there are no external reference points. Nico Hülkenberg underlined this aspect in his post-test assessment. The German driver spoke of a solid conclusion to the testing programme and work completed without major setbacks: “We can take encouragement from the significant number of laps completed; it’s proof of the enormous amount of work done in the factories,” he said. “Bringing a new power unit to the track and truly starting to understand it requires time, coordination and the ability to react quickly to unexpected issues.”
According to the former Renault driver, progress was visible day after day: “We made important steps forward, constantly learning. The team responded quickly to challenges and implemented solutions effectively. Before leaving for Melbourne, we will still have a week to analyse the data collected, but the feeling is that we now have a more stable technical base compared to the first outings.”
Indeed, whereas in Barcelona the impression was of an R26 destined to struggle considerably in its debut season, the picture shifted during the final days in Bahrain. The car displayed a more convincing level of downforce and, above all, solid reliability—no small achievement at such an early stage of a completely new project.
In race simulations, the pace appeared consistent. The R26 seemed to have a slight edge over Williams and Racing Bulls in overall rhythm, while not being too far away from Haas and Alpine. It is a sign that does not yet define the competitive hierarchy, but it does confirm concrete progress compared to the initial impressions from Spain.
Gabriel Bortoleto also described an intense but productive pre-season. The young Brazilian emphasised that his learning journey is far from complete. Nevertheless, according to the reigning F2 and F3 champion, the test was positive: “There are still areas to work on and a lot to learn about the car, but overall it has been a good test.”
His words reflect a realistic approach, especially as weaknesses have not been absent. One issue became evident during the practice starts conducted at the end of each session. With the removal of the MGU-H, turbo lag has once again become a key factor, since by regulation the MGU-K cannot intervene until 50 km/h. In this scenario, the German outfit appeared to struggle more than its rivals at launch, likely also due to the choice of adopting a slightly larger turbocharger than the competition. This characteristic may offer advantages in other phases, but for now it complicates traction off the line. It is no coincidence that Bortoleto himself bluntly described the start in recent days as a “mess.”
Technical director James Key: “We are where we hoped to be”
From a technical standpoint, James Key also shared his perspective, recalling how unusual this winter has been. Three test sessions had not been seen in years, but with new regulations and fundamentally different cars, they were necessary. Only a few weeks ago, the car cautiously rolled out of the Barcelona garage for its filming day, still at an early stage of development: “It’s hard to believe that just six weeks ago we were carefully rolling the car out of the garage in Barcelona for our filming day at the beginning of January. Since then, we’ve made significant progress. In recent weeks we introduced the race-spec aerodynamic package, completed race-distance simulations and carried out extensive setup work on both chassis and power unit.”
According to Key, the drivers already feel comfortable with the car, which represents a solid platform on which to build. There are still areas to improve, particularly in terms of outright performance and reliability, but nothing beyond expectations for a new Formula 1 project of this scale. “Overall, we are where we hoped to be at this stage of the season and in our development as a team,” he concluded.
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