Audi’s updated R26 failed to advance beyond Q1 in Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying. Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 17th and Nico Hülkenberg 18th. The two drivers described different problems. Bortoleto said Audi had lacked grip and pace throughout the weekend. Hülkenberg said a yellow flag and the loss of a tow compromised his final qualifying run. Neither driver concluded that the new parts were responsible for the result.
Bortoleto ran the updated car in the opening practice session while Hülkenberg drove the previous specification, allowing Audi to compare the two. Bortoleto said the revised car appeared to produce more downforce, but he could not account for its lack of pace in qualifying.
“For both of us, the whole weekend we had no grip,” Bortoleto told Formula 1. He also reported a shortfall in straight-line speed, though he noted that Audi had been close to Q3 at Monza, a circuit with even longer stretches at full throttle. “I think it’s something bigger that we need to understand,” he said.
Hülkenberg pointed to a yellow flag at Turn 15 on his final attempt. Cars ahead of him abandoned their laps, leaving him without a tow along the run to the finish line. He estimated that the loss of the tow cost roughly half a second on the straight.
Hülkenberg said the upgrade had felt encouraging in practice and expects Audi to gain more from it as the team learns how to set up the revised car. He also cited Baku’s wind and emphasis on top speed as factors that make the package difficult to judge from this session alone.
Audi will start Sunday’s race from 17th and 18th. Bortoleto’s weekend-long lack of grip remains unexplained, while Hülkenberg’s qualifying result was affected by his final run. The team will need more running to establish how much performance its Baku update has added.
Allan McNish, Racing Director “No disguising a difficult session for us today. Both final runs were compromised with yellow flags towards the end of the session, but we simply did not unlock the pace over a single lap in these windy conditions. We know the underlying package of the R26 is strong, so with a high chance of mid-race incidents we’ll analyse the data overnight and come back with plenty of hope for the race itself.”
“Today’s result is obviously disappointing, as I feel we were more competitive than the final classification suggests. On the first run, we missed the tow, which makes a big difference around here. Then, on my final lap, I was caught by a yellow flag at Turn 15 and again had no tow down the long straight. We were also lacking some straight-line speed, which makes things particularly difficult at this circuit. There is naturally still more for us to learn about the upgrades as we work to understand and optimise the package. Starting from the back is never easy, but this is Baku and opportunities can arise, so we need to stay sharp and be ready to take them.”
2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Friday
Gabriel Bortoleto, Car #5 FP3: 13th / 1:45.854 (18 laps) Q1: 17th / 1:45.799 (10 laps)
“Of course, this is not the Qualifying result we wanted to walk away with today. The first two runs I did seemed pretty decent; on the last run, though, I just couldn’t find any grip, and a yellow flag at the end of my final push lap also forced me to lift. We probably left something out there, but I reckon it would have been tough to advance much today anyway.
“Overall, it’s been a quite challenging weekend for us so far. Some laps feel like the grip is there, and others feel like we’re struggling with it. We have been lacking some pace throughout sessions, so we need to analyse everything and understand what hasn’t gone right, take that onboard and try again tomorrow.”
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