Audi F1 Narrowly Misses Points on the Streets of Baku

[Source: Audi Revolut F1 Team]

Audi F1 brought a massive upgrade package to Azerbaijan but it didn’t pay off thanks to poor qualifying and lack of straight-line speed. Even still, the team was tantalizingly close to scoring a point. Nico Hülkenberg was running inside the top 10 until the closing stages of the race. Ultimately, Audi left the streets of Baku empty-handed, but there were still some encouraging signs from a difficult weekend.

Starting on new medium tires, Hülkenberg played the long game. Audi’s strategy was to extend the first stint in hopes that a Safety Car might create an opportunity. The gamble helped Hülkenberg climb into P10 late in the race after switching to new soft tires on Lap 33. For a while, it looked like Audi might steal a point.

Unfortunately, Baku’s enormous straight exposed one of the R26’s weaknesses. When the cars ahead began battling, Hülkenberg lost enough time for Carlos Sainz to catch his tow. The Williams then used its straight-line speed advantage to get past, dropping the Audi out of the points. Hülkenberg crossed the line in 11th.

“Points looked in reach for a bit, so it’s disappointing to miss out,” Hülkenberg said. He acknowledged that Audi had been lacking straight-line speed throughout the weekend, making it difficult both to attack and defend.

Gabriel Bortoleto also made progress from a difficult starting position, finishing 13th. More importantly, he came away encouraged by Audi’s latest upgrade package. Bortoleto said the car was particularly strong through Baku’s middle sector and showed promising race pace, even if its performance on the straights remained a problem.

Audi Racing Director Allan McNish admitted the result was disappointing but noted that Baku was never expected to be an ideal circuit for the R26. The team will now dig through the data from its new package before heading to Sepang, where McNish believes the circuit layout should better suit the car.

P11 doesn’t add anything to Audi’s championship total, but after a difficult qualifying session and a track that highlighted the car’s weaknesses, getting within striking distance of the points is something to build on.