The state of play at Audi after three rounds of the 2026 season

Audi are three rounds into their Formula 1 journey, having joined the grid in 2026 following the German manufacturer’s takeover of what was the Kick Sauber outfit. Not only did they have the ambition to run their own power unit from the word go, but they also have lofty targets for the long term. While they started the season with a consistent driver line-up in Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, one of the key cogs in the leadership team – Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley – departed suddenly. Here is the state of play at Audi…

How has the 2026 season gone so far?

Audi have had a mixed start to life in F1. Pre-season testing was not without its difficulties – but the same could be said for every team, with reliability always an issue at the start of a new era of regulations.

But the team wound up with a really good haul of laps, and a decent idea of their strengths and weaknesses. On track they looked quick, and were comfortably in the midfield fight with the likes of Alpine, Haas and Racing Bulls.

Reliability has proven their nemesis though. In Australia, Hulkenberg’s car was wheeled off the grid and the team could not fix it in time for the German to start from the pit lane. Bortoleto then brought cheer to Audi by scoring points on the team’s debut with a brilliant drive to ninth place.

In China there was a reversal of luck – this time Bortoleto did not start the race, while Hulkenberg came home just outside of the points in P11. The German also finished 11th in Japan, but this highlighted the issue of the team’s race starts as Hulkenberg conceded it cost him the chance of points – he had tumbled down the order from 13th to 19th as the lights went out in Suzuka. But, to be so close to the top 10 at this stage should signal plenty of optimism.

However, the biggest news from Audi this season has come away from the track, with Team Principal Wheatley departing with immediate effect after just two rounds of the season. Head of the Audi F1 project Mattia Binotto has stepped into that role for the time being, until Audi decide how to reshuffle or replace Wheatley.

Audi have two points thus far, and sit eighth in the Championship.

Reasons to be hopeful

Audi look to have designed a useful package, their engine and chassis both appear solid and, while they have had some reliability issues, so has everyone to a certain extent.

Unlike some teams, they do not have huge deficits to make up – there are no obvious design flaws, and their pace has been strong across three different styles of track. As such, they can refine and upgrade their package, rather than spend time fixing major issues.

Bortoleto is growing in confidence in his second season with the team, and Hulkenberg has lost none of his pace either. The two drivers are working well together, and in Binotto, the team are still guided by a safe pair of hands.

Reasons to be cautious

Wheatley’s departure has still left a hole at the top of the management structure of the team, with both drivers getting on well with their former Team Principal while the squad’s set up seemed to be working in unison.

Although Binotto has stepped into his shoes, it increases the Italian’s workload and leaves the team on the back foot at a time when they want to be concentrating on car development.

They also do not have any customer teams running the Audi power unit and thus, compared to the others, have much less data to draw upon. That’s even more of an issue given they only started one car in Australia and one car in China.

What have the drivers and team bosses said?

As mentioned above, Hulkenberg has highlighted race starts as something the team need to improve quickly, with neither driver getting away well last time out at Suzuka.

“Improving our race starts is something we need to focus on as a team over the upcoming weeks,” the German explained. Bortoleto agreed, stating: “We’ve known since the first race of the season [starts are] something we need to work on, to try and put things back in place and not compromise the job we do on Saturday.

“Now, with almost five weeks away from racing, we’ll keep our head down and make the most out of this time to work together across our bases and improve our car in order to come back in Miami in May in a better place.”

Meanwhile, Binotto said: “The pace of the car was encouraging. We have shown that we can compete around the top 10… It underlines the underlying potential of the package.

“At the same time, there are clear areas where we need to improve. Our start performance is not yet where it needs to be, and we lost significant ground on the opening lap [in Japan], which ultimately… compromised the race for both drivers.

“More broadly, drivability and energy management remain key areas of focus. As a young package, which is what we are, we still have a lot to learn and refine.”

What do Audi need to work on going forwards?

Audi seem to have a good foundation with which to attack the rest of the year – but with development set to play such a crucial role, they cannot afford to be left behind.

It will be down to Binotto to marshal the troops and make sure the direction they take with their first raft of big upgrades is successful, with points set to be hotly contested all season long – one or two P10 finishes could make all the difference in the Constructors’ come December.

Whether Audi focus on their engine or chassis or split their resources remains to be seen, but they have already debuted some interesting features this season – their sidepods raised plenty of eyebrows – so the team are clearly unafraid to go their own way.

It just remains to be seen whether their own way is the right way in 2026.