Audi admits problems after first Formula 1 test and says team is not ready yet – Audi’s eagerly awaited debut in Formula 1 was intended to signal a significant step towards its 2026 entry into the sport. However, the German manufacturer has delivered a strikingly honest assessment: the team is not ready yet. The first shakedown of Audi’s 2026-spec car revealed major problems, transforming what should have been a celebratory milestone into a sobering reality check.

The test took place on 9 January 2026 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This was Audi’s first opportunity to put a fully compliant 2026 car on the track, making the run historic in technical terms alone. However, behind the symbolism, the day revealed just how steep the learning curve remains for Audi’s all-new Formula 1 project.

 

 

A milestone that became a warning sign

Audi was the first manufacturer anywhere in the world to run a 2026-spec Formula 1 car on a circuit. This achievement alone highlights the ambition and scope of the project. However, the conditions surrounding the test were far from ideal.

Conducting the shakedown as a filming day limited Audi to just 50 kilometres of running. These restrictions made it impossible to execute a full test programme, properly evaluate performance, or explore different set-ups. The objective was far more basic: to ensure that the car could start, the systems could communicate and data could be gathered without any major failures.

Despite 18 months of preparation reportedly having gone into the project, much of the work had been squeezed into a short, intense winter period. Audi’s priority was simply to get the car running, leaving no margin for refinement or optimisation. Even by shakedown standards, expectations were modest.

 

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Binotto’s unusually candid assessment

Initial impressions suggested that Audi had completed the day without major drama. However, that narrative quickly changed once team principal Mattia Binotto spoke publicly. In a remarkably honest assessment, Binotto admitted that the test had fallen well short of the team’s hopes.

“We’re not done yet. We still have problems, and we’re not at the performance level we’d like to be,” he said, leaving little room for interpretation.

According to him, neither the power unit nor the overall drive system was fully under control. He went further, conceding that, even within the limited scope of a filming day, the outing could not be classified as a success. At the same time, Binotto tried to strike a constructive tone.

‘The filming day may not have been successful, but it was positive. We encountered problems, and it’s precisely those problems that will help us to be better prepared for the next tests.’

This balance of realism and long-term optimism reflects Audi’s broader approach to Formula 1: a patient, data-driven strategy, aware that progress will not be linear.

 

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A completely new car, engine and philosophy

Audi’s challenge is unique among the 2026 entrants. Unlike teams that are evolving existing concepts, Audi is building almost everything from scratch. This includes a new chassis and a fully self-developed power unit.

Rather than continuing Sauber’s long-standing partnership with Ferrari, Audi has chosen to take full control of its destiny. While this decision is consistent with Audi’s identity as a manufacturer, it also removes the safety net of historical data and proven reference points.

Established teams can compare new components to previous generations and rely on years of operational knowledge. Audi has no such luxury. Every system, from energy deployment to engine control software, is being learnt in real time.

The Barcelona shakedown was therefore never about lap times. Its primary purpose was to verify basic functionality and confirm that the engine could run reliably in real conditions. In that respect, the results were mixed. While the car did run, it did not perform at a level that would inspire confidence ahead of a brutally competitive regulation reset.

 

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Driver feedback under severe time pressure

Both Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto participated in the shakedown, providing Audi with two distinct viewpoints on the car’s performance. While gathering feedback from two drivers was valuable, time pressure played a significant role in shaping the day’s events.

Bortoleto’s crashes during the 2025 season had already disrupted parts of the production schedule, delaying the availability of some components. Consequently, Audi’s test programme was compressed even further. Every lap mattered, yet none could be used for a genuine performance evaluation or fine-tuning.

The focus remained firmly on system checks, reliability and understanding how the car reacted under minimal load. From a sporting perspective, the day raised more questions than it answered.

 

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A rare positive was that weight targets were achieved.

Amid the concerns, there was at least one encouraging sign. According to rumours in the paddock reported by journalist Mark Hughes, Audi is one of the few teams to have already reached the minimum weight limit for the 2026 regulations. Alpine is believed to be the only other team in the same position.

This achievement is said to be the result of a deliberately compact design philosophy, similar to Sauber’s successful approach following the 2022 regulation changes. A car that meets the weight limit early provides valuable flexibility and, in theory, ‘free’ lap time once performance development begins.

While weight alone will not solve Audi’s current issues, this achievement offers a solid foundation upon which improvements can be built.

 

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Not alone in the struggle

Audi’s difficulties are far from unique. As the 2026 regulations draw closer, several teams are grappling with reliability and integration problems. Cadillac reportedly spent hours in the garage during a shakedown at Silverstone, while the Racing Bulls team struggled to fire up their new engine at Imola.

Beyond technical challenges, political tensions are also rising. Audi has joined Honda and Ferrari in urging the FIA to intervene over alleged loopholes in the engine regulations, specifically targeting perceived compression tricks by Mercedes and Red Bull. These disputes highlight just how complex and contentious the new rulebook has become.

 

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A learning year by design

Audi has never hidden the fact that immediate success is not the objective. The manufacturer has consistently pointed towards 2030 as the timeframe for genuine title ambitions. Binotto’s comments reinforce the idea that 2026 will be a year of learning.

The first test made it clear just how big a challenge this is, even for a brand with Audi’s resources and technical pedigree. The next steps are approaching quickly: official winter testing begins in Barcelona later this month, followed by two intensive testing sessions in Bahrain in February.

Only then will it become clear whether the issues seen in the shakedown are fundamental weaknesses or simply the painful but inevitable growing pains of a brand new Formula 1 project.

 

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NEXT ARTICLE – Hamilton’s Ferrari ‘breaks down’ in shakedown and the Scuderia demonstrate their shambolic organisation once again

As Formula One’s most historic and successful team, Ferrari   are persistently under the microscope more than any other competitor. In 2025, the decision was made to abandon the in season car development of the SF-25 after just six race weekends to the disappointment of both Lewis Hamilton and. Charles Leclerc.

The lack of upgrades took its toll during the second half of the year, as the Scuderia slipped from a comfortable second place in the constructors’ championship to a distant fourth come the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Whilst the SF-25 was a difficult car to drive, Charles Leclerc managed to rack up seven podiums across the season, although five of these were tellingly before the summer break.

Lewis Hamilton’s blockbuster move to Maranello ended in huge disappointment as the seven times world champion for the first time in his illustrious F1 career failed to make the podium on Sunday even once. Now the hopes of the tifosi are pinned on the extra time and resources Ferrari committed to the 2026 project and that the team will emerge as a front running contender.

 

Ferrari’s big reveal cock up

Yet the same old Ferrari organisation has turned up in 2026. Last week announcing Hamilton’s race engineer, Riccardo Adami, would be benched but as pre-season testing approaches no replacement has been appointed. The four and a half days Hamilton will now have in the Scuderia’s 2026 competitor will see Charles Leclerc’s engineer in his ear.

This is clearly less than ideal given the valuable time lost for Lewis and his new engineer to bond. Today Ferrari again demonstrated their shambolic organisation as they revealed their all new 2026 challenger online. The renders were immediately clear to be of the 2025 car which delivered zero victories in a season of woe.

The tifosi were quick to comment on the error and the uninspiring text associated with the pictures of the 2025 car which stated: “The 72nd (sic) Formula 1 car for Scuderia Ferrari HP is the first designed under the new regulations.”

When someone in Maranello woke up to their mistake, the renders were swiftly replaced with those relating to the 2026 car. The livery is striking and the engine cover is now completely white which resembles the car which Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen drove back in 2016. Ominously the SF-16 from ten years ago failed to win a Grand Prix, and so associating this year’s machine with that of 2016 appears to be another faux par in…CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE