Nico Hülkenberg identified the early Virtual Safety Car as the decisive moment behind his 10th-place finish at the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix, as Audi returned to the points and continued to close the gap to Haas in the Constructors’ Championship. Team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto had the opposite experience in Madrid, with the same neutralisation disrupting his strategy before he finished 13th.
One week after narrowly missing the points at the Italian Grand Prix, Audi returned to the top 10 at the new Madring circuit thanks once again to Hülkenberg. As in the recent Belgian and Hungarian Grands Prix, albeit from different starting positions, the German crossed the line in 10th to add another point to Audi’s total and increase the pressure on Haas in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship.
Nico Hülkenberg says Madrid VSC was key to Spanish GP point
As was the case for several drivers, the defining moment of Hülkenberg’s race came when Lance Stroll retired and the Virtual Safety Car was subsequently deployed. Audi reacted by bringing one of the most experienced drivers on the grid into the pits, and the timing allowed Hülkenberg to emerge ahead of Esteban Ocon.
From there, the Audi driver successfully protected 10th place all the way to the chequered flag.
“Today we got the maximum out of what we had available,” Nico Hülkenberg said. “Starting on the soft tyres meant that the Virtual Safety Car that came early in the race was the ideal moment for the pit stop; the mechanics did a fantastic job, allowing me to rejoin ahead of Ocon.”
“That was probably the key moment of our race, because it gave us the track position we needed. From that point onwards, it was mainly about managing the tyres. Overtaking was very difficult because everyone was running at a similar pace, so there wasn’t much opportunity to gain any more positions.”
Hülkenberg believes Audi has now established itself near the front of the midfield battle, although another performance step will be needed to move further forward. That progress is becoming increasingly important in the fight with Haas, which has already seen Audi close in after Haas suffered a difficult Dutch Grand Prix.
“We’ve been at the front of the midfield fight for a while now; hopefully we can soon make the step forward we need to keep progressing,” Nico Hülkenberg added.
Gabriel Bortoleto loses out from the same Virtual Safety Car
Gabriel Bortoleto was less fortunate. The Brazilian again came close to the points but ultimately finished 13th after the VSC disrupted Audi’s original plans and the limited overtaking opportunities at Madring made recovering positions particularly difficult.
“Today we were unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car, which basically turned our plans upside down; after that, nothing really happened until the end of the race,” Gabriel Bortoleto said. “There wasn’t much else we could do, especially because overtaking opportunities were scarce.”
Despite the disappointing result, Bortoleto felt there were useful lessons to take from Formula 1’s first race weekend at the Madrid circuit.
“Overall, it was a useful weekend to learn something new. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t that negative either, and I really enjoyed racing on this track. In qualifying we came close to reaching Q3, which more or less reflected the race pace we showed throughout the weekend.”
Audi turns attention to Baku after another Madrid point
Bortoleto will now use the break before the next round to reset before Formula 1 heads to Azerbaijan.
“Now we have a week to recharge our batteries and get back to work, before going to Baku in two weeks,” Gabriel Bortoleto concluded.
Madrid therefore produced contrasting outcomes for Audi’s two cars, but Hülkenberg’s latest point keeps the team moving in the right direction. With Haas directly ahead in the midfield battle, every top-10 finish is becoming increasingly valuable as Audi attempts to climb further up the constructors’ standings.
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