Suzuka start issues cost Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto valuable points in Japan. Start issues compromise Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto at Suzuka.

Both Audi drivers encountered problems off the line, ultimately leading to a double finish outside the points at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Two cars, one problem

The Japanese Grand Prix appeared to be the perfect opportunity to witness Audi’s return to the points after Gabriel Bortoleto secured ninth place in the team’s debut race in Australia. The Brazilian driver, competing in the first race weekend under Mattia Binotto as Audi Team Principal following the unexpected departure of Jonathan Wheatley, managed to qualify in ninth position at Suzuka. However, the goal of finishing inside the top 10 never materialized.

Bortoleto’s start

The main reason behind this outcome, both for the South American driver and his teammate Nico Hülkenberg, was the same: the start. Once again, both drivers struggled off the line, as confirmed by Gabriel Bortoleto himself after finishing in 13th place:

“The race went quite well overall: the Safety Car helped us, as I had decided to stay out longer to avoid getting stuck behind other cars on harder tyres; our pace wasn’t bad, although I had some difficulties on the straights. What penalized us the most today, unfortunately, was the start: we’ve known since the first race of the season that this is an area we need to work on, in order to fix things and not compromise the work we do on Saturdays. Now, with almost five weeks without racing, we will stay focused and make the most of this time to work together across all our bases and improve the car, so that we can return to Miami in May in a better position.”

Hülkenberg close to a strong result

The poor getaway also had a major impact on Nico Hülkenberg’s race. Without such a difficult launch, the German driver could realistically have finished higher than his final 11th position, potentially scoring his first points of the season:

“We had good pace and a real chance to score points, but our race was compromised by a bad start. Improving our starts is something we need to focus on as a team in the coming weeks. I lost several positions on the opening lap, dropping from 13th to 19th, which made things difficult from that point on. Being stuck in traffic for most of the race limited our opportunities to recover. These cars are still quite difficult to manage with the current energy management and overtaking dynamics. You can make moves, but immediately after you become vulnerable, so at the moment it’s a trade-off. On the positive side, it was valuable to complete the race and gather a lot of data. We have a lot to work on and improve, and with a month before Miami, we have plenty of time to analyze everything and come back stronger.”

While the Audi SF-26 showed flashes of competitive midfield pace, the recurring technical glitch at the start remains their “Achilles’ heel.” Based on the drivers’ feedback, the April break will be entirely dedicated to mapping out new clutch and software configurations to ensure they don’t throw away their hard-earned qualifying positions in the future.