Audi acknowledges that the team’s biggest problem in the 2026 F1 season will not disappear quickly: the German racing stable has been struggling with weak starts all year. It went wrong again during the recent Japanese GP, when both Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto immediately lost ground when the lights went out. According to Audi – which is racing with its own engine for the first time this year – the problem is not easily solved.
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“The start wasn’t great; it’s something we have to work on as a team,” Bortoleto reacted to the press at Suzuka on Sunday. “Nico and I lost a lot of ground and then we had some problems during the race. There was little I could do.” The Brazilian was remarkably critical of his team’s performance. “The procedure is pretty much the same for everyone. I think there are teams that have developed and adapted the car in a different way to have better starts, but for us, it has been disastrous so far,” he sighed. “We know it’s difficult for us and we need to improve in that area.” The young driver’s criticism is not unfounded: he himself lost four places at the start on Sunday, while teammate Nico Hülkenberg dropped back no fewer than six places.
However, a quick fix does not seem to be in sight, even with a longer break on the calendar. “We can improve a bit, but in the short term, I don’t expect us to be able to match the Ferraris,” said Bortoleto. The Scuderia is generally among the strongest teams at the start. “But we also can’t match the starts of Mercedes, for example,” he added. “I think we will still have a hard time.”
Engine woes
Interim team principal Mattia Binotto also acknowledges the problem and emphasizes that it is structural in nature. “We had a bad start,” he reacted after the Japanese GP. “That wasn’t the first time, so it’s certainly not our strongest point. The reason we haven’t addressed it yet is because it’s not an obvious problem. Nevertheless, it remains a top priority within the team. Because we can have such a good qualifying, but if we lose our starting positions immediately at the start, it all makes little sense.”
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According to Binotto, a significant part of the deficit lies with the engine, something Audi already took into account when entering the sport. “Engine development times are very long,” he explained. “We have determined that a large part of the gap to the top teams is due to the engine, which we already expected; we knew this would be the biggest challenge. Of course, we do have a plan to make up that deficit. It’s not for nothing that we have set the goal of competing for titles in 2030. As a team, we know exactly where we stand and what the plans are. We must stick to that. We are not here to perform miracles.”
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