Audi left the Miami Formula 1 GP without scoring points, despite clear signs of competitiveness. Gabriel Bortoleto finished 12th after starting at the back of the grid, while Nico Hulkenberg retired from the race.
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The result reflected a difficult weekend for the team, which saw the car’s potential not translate into results. Technical problems and incidents compromised the chance to fight for better positions.
Bortoleto highlighted the recovery throughout the race but regretted the insufficient time to advance further: “The pace was there to fight for points, but starting last there’s not much you can do. I managed to overtake some cars, but there wasn’t enough time,” he said. The Brazilian valued the result: “Considering I started last and finished P12, it was good,” he stated.
On the other side of the garage, Hulkenberg’s race was compromised early on. The German suffered an incident at turn 1 that required a nose change, before retiring due to a technical problem: “This is not how we wanted to finish. We had a failure and need to understand what happened,” he said.
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The team’s race director, Allan McNish, praised Bortoleto’s performance and the team’s work despite the difficulties: “He had a very strong race, with good pace and well-executed overtakes, showing the car’s potential,” he highlighted. About Hulkenberg, he regretted the sequence of problems that took away a possible points fight.
McNish emphasized that the focus now is to turn performance into concrete results. The team intends to analyze the collected data and come back better prepared for the next stage in Canada.
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