Audi team boss Jonathan Wheatley has admitted to an early feeling of pride over the operation\u2019s progress ahead of their maiden F1 season, highlighting the \u201cambition, boldness and creativity\u201d he has seen so far.<\/p>\n
Audi<\/a> are gearing up to debut in the sport after taking over the previous Kick Sauber squad, with the German automotive giants also designing and manufacturing their own power unit for the all-new technical regulations.<\/p>\n After becoming the first team to run their 2026 car and gathering some early data at the Barcelona Shakedown, Audi enjoyed a particularly productive week at the first official pre-season test in Bahrain, with Nico Hulkenberg<\/a> and Gabriel Bortoleto<\/a> racking up plenty of laps.<\/p>\n Asked about the Bahrain test appearing to be a step smoother than Barcelona, Wheatley said: \u201cI\u2019m encouraged that you\u2019ve noticed that from the outside, because certainly internally, we\u2019ve brought together these two groups of very, very talented people, chassis and powertrain, trying to knit them into a team in what\u2019s been a very short winter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t even had the opportunity to get everyone together and have a beer, let alone a team-building event or something! So, it felt like it was very early stages in Barcelona, and towards the end of this week now it\u2019s starting to really look like how an F1 team should operate inside the garage, at least.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, the communication in the team. We\u2019ve had a few high-pressure situations, we\u2019ve been working on it, we identified some target areas last year, and so far it seems to be en route to where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cI think people focus a lot on the car when it comes to testing. We\u2019re testing everything when we come here: your air freight systems, your logistics, getting people backwards and forwards, the operation in the garage, the communication to the driver, from the driver, between the team, your run plans\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cYou have so many engineers at testing, so many more people than you have at races, and every single person needs to have their say, and you need to build that into a picture and a run plan the next day. It\u2019s a big challenge, and it shouldn\u2019t be underestimated.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I talk about the fact that we look more cohesive, I take a lot out of that. We changed the structure a little bit over the winter, certainly in engineering and operationally, and it looks like it\u2019s bearing fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n