Allan McNish, Audi’s racing director, said the team’s showing at the Austrian Grand Prix was its strongest weekend of the 2026 season, even though the cars finished just outside the points.
The Red Bull Ring favours raw power, an area where Audi’s new power unit still lags by roughly a second per lap, according to team principal Mattia Binotto. Nevertheless, the R26s ran smoothly after an aero upgrade, allowing Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg to post P11 and P12 – their best finishes to date. Both drivers also delivered the season’s quickest race starts, a chronic weakness for the team, and McNish praised their ability to extract maximum performance from the package.
McNish stressed that the progress seen in Austria gives the outfit confidence for circuits where outright horsepower matters less, such as the upcoming Silverstone race, which he likens to Barcelona. He added that work on the power unit continues at Audi’s Neuberg facility, with longer‑term upgrades planned but short‑term improvements already feeding into the car. Maintaining the execution shown in Austria will be key as Audi aims to turn the near‑misses into points in the coming rounds.
.webp)
