Audi has set a clear priority for the remainder of the 2026 Formula 1 season, following harsh criticism from Gabriel Bortoleto. The Brazilian described the team’s starts as ‘terrible’ after losing positions again at the start of the Japanese GP, increasing internal pressure for changes.
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This situation gained special attention because the team showed competitive performance in qualifying sessions but has been wasting those opportunities at the starts. The team director, who currently also acts as team principal, Mattia Binotto, acknowledged the problem and confirmed that fixing this point will be the main objective during the April break.
Bortoleto, who scored Audi’s only points so far with a ninth-place finish in Australia, faced difficulties again in Japan. The driver lost positions right after the start, reinforcing the criticism of the car’s behavior and the team’s procedures.
Binotto admitted that the problem is known, but it is not simple to solve: “Starts are certainly not one of our strengths at the moment, and the reason why this hasn’t been resolved yet is because it’s not something obvious to fix,” the official stated.
Even with this technical difficulty, the Italian made it clear that the situation needs to be treated with urgency: “On the other hand, it is a priority for us, because we had a good qualifying session in Japan, and you lose all the positions at the start, so it’s not worth it.”
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The team also intends to take advantage of the break between races in April to evolve. According to Binotto, the tight calendar at the start of the season limited car development, as testing was short and the first three races took place before the end of March.
The official explained that Audi has been acting reactively so far, especially being a team in its first season with the new power unit: “It has been very reactive so far, because since pre-season testing, as a new team, there was a lot to learn, solve reliability issues, and we didn’t have time to think about development,” he added.
With more time available during the break, the team hopes to arrive better prepared for the Miami GP: “This will be one of the focuses in the coming weeks to be better prepared for Miami,” Binotto concluded, showing confidence for the next stage of the championship.
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