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 \u2013 Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley \u2013 departed suddenly. Here is the state of play at Audi…<\/p>\n
How has the 2026 season gone so far?<\/p>\n
Audi<\/a> have had a mixed start to life in F1. Pre-season testing was not without its difficulties \u2013 but the same could be said for every team, with reliability always an issue at the start of a new era of regulations.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, Haas<\/a> and Racing Bulls.<\/a><\/p>\n Reliability has proven their nemesis though. In Australia, Hulkenberg\u2019s 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<\/a> then brought cheer to Audi by scoring points on the team\u2019s debut with a brilliant drive to ninth place.<\/p>\n In China there was a reversal of luck \u2013 this time Bortoleto did not start the race, while Hulkenberg<\/a> 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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n However, the biggest news from Audi this season has come away from the track, with Team Principal Wheatley departing with immediate effect<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Audi have two points thus far, and sit eighth in the Championship.<\/p>\n Reasons to be hopeful<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Unlike some teams, they do not have huge deficits to make up \u2013 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Reasons to be cautious<\/p>\n Wheatley\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Although Binotto has stepped into his shoes, it increases the Italian\u2019s workload and leaves the team on the back foot at a time when they want to be concentrating on car development.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n What have the drivers and team bosses said?<\/p>\n