Audi left the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 with one point earned by Nico Hulkenberg, in a race where strategy played a decisive role. The team especially highlighted the work done in the pits to turn the available opportunities into results.
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Audi’s racing director, Allan McNish, acknowledged that the race would be complicated due to the difficulty of overtaking and the tendency towards a one-stop strategy. According to him, the team managed to react well to the circumstances, after again losing positions at the start, pointed out as one of the team’s current weaknesses.
Audi adopted different plans for its two drivers. Hulkenberg started on soft tires and took advantage of the first virtual safety car to make his stop and put on hard tires, while Gabriel Bortoleto stayed on track longer with the hards, betting on a future Safety Car, virtual safety car, or red flag that could create a tire advantage or allow a stop without significant loss.
“We really played as a team today,” said McNish. The director also highlighted Hulkenberg’s performance and Bortoleto’s attempt, as well as considering that the point was mainly built by the team’s performance in the pits.
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Hulkenberg finished tenth and assessed that Audi extracted the maximum possible from the car. The stop during the virtual safety car was considered by him as the key moment, mainly because the pit stop allowed him to come out ahead of Esteban Ocon: “The team did a fantastic job to put me ahead of Esteban,” he said.
Bortoleto finished 13th and considered that the virtual safety car harmed his plans: “We were unlucky with the virtual safety car today, which practically messed up our plans,” explained the Brazilian, who also highlighted the difficulty of overtaking.
Despite the result, Bortoleto positively evaluated the weekend’s learning and highlighted that Audi was close to advancing again to Q3. McNish, in turn, ended the assessment projecting the team’s next commitment: “It’s another point for us, and now we look forward to Baku,” he concluded.
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