Whilst the world of Formula One is on hold in April due to the war in Iran, the various teams are beavering away back at base to fix a plethora of issues afflicting these all-new cars and engines.
Whilst much of the focus at Red Bull Racing will be on the poorly performing chassis, at Audi there is a glaring matter now top of their ‘to do’ list. The start of the races has seen each Audi driver on average lose four places before the end of the first lap.
Audi’s launch phase has been anemic, leaving their drivers defenceless as the pack swarms past at lights out. Nico Hulkenberg lost a whopping nine places in China and the problem is clearly with the Audi-built powertrain. In terms of being able to get away from a standing start, Gabriel Bortoleto was described as “terrible” after both he and Hulkenberg lost a combined ten places at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.
6 starts and just one place gained for Audi
“I think with a regular [standing] start, there were obviously points on the table, which is disappointing and frustrating. So, we need to get on top of that. It’s a work in progress and more work on that side, for sure,” reflected Hulkenberg following the Japanese Grand Prix.
After making six starts, it clearly isn’t driver error, which in the past would have been the case for repeatedly losing places off the line. The only time an Audi driver has made up places on lap one was in the China Sprint, with Bortoleto finishing up one place better off at the end of lap one than when he started.
Yet even this required some assistance, with Isack Hadjar spinning and Ollie Bearman taking avoiding action; Bortoleto was gifted the opportunity to make up ground whilst the others around him floundered.
Audi, of course, are building their first-ever F1 engine and it was expected there would be teething problems for the German brand. Further, unlike Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull Powertrains, Audi have no second or third customer team to provide them with incremental data.
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Audi’s mistake in PU architecture
The problem for F1’s new entrant appears to be with the decisions made on the design of the turbo. Once up to speed, Audi demonstrated reasonable pace and analysis suggests they are using a fairly large turbo compressor. After another miserable getaway last time out in Suzuka, Nico Hulkenberg admitted for the first time that the problem is with the architecture of the Audi powertrain. ”I know I had a poor start, but I don’t know the particulars, the ins and outs. I need to have a look and speak with the engineers, but it’s obviously a thing.”
The issue with the larger turbo design in the new V6 turbo hybrids is that it takes longer to spool up than the likes of the Ferrari smaller compressor; this lag, together with the fact the electrical element of the hybrid is not allowed to contribute until the car has reached 50kph, is the source of Audi’s problems.
So finding their sweet spot where the driver holds the engine revs before lights out is particularly difficult for Audi. The FIA finally acknowledged that having cars crawling away from the start line was in fact dangerous and wished to implement changes to the start procedure which would have helped Audi.
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Regulation changes to assist poor starters
Suggestions included delaying the actual start by ten seconds, thus allowing the drivers to sit on the grid with their engines revving high, thus allowing the bigger turbos to get up to the 100,000 revolutions required. Yet Ferrari voted against this change, arguing that they had designed their 2026 powertrain with this issue in mind, and that teams who had missed the boat should not be given a get-out-of-jail card for free. If the issue was one of safety, the Scuderia suggested teams suffering from slow getaways should start their drivers from the pit lane.
A compromise was eventually reluctantly agreed by Ferrari, in that prior to the starting procedure for the red lights positioned high on the gantry, the ‘flag’ lights placed along the pit lane would flash blue for five seconds before the red light starting procedure began.
Yet given it’s estimated the Audis required around ten seconds to spool up their turbos to full efficiency, this remains a problem for the German marque. Yet there is an element of Karma in the position Audi now find themselves.
As the F1 power unit manufacturers working party was debating the architecture for the new 2026 power units, Audi were insistent the old MGU-H — seen on the last generation of F1 hybrids — be dropped. This used to convert heat from the engine’s exhaust into electrical energy available at the start of the race. Given Audi had no experience of this technology in any of their other motor racing categories, they argued they would be at a significant disadvantage to their rivals — even threatening to drop their proposed entry into F1. Now the loss of the MGU-H is a major headache for Audi together with their large turbo design. Some would say that’s Karma.
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The Karma of the MGU-H row
Audi’s de facto team boss, Mattia Binotto, admitted there’s little the team can presently do about the poor starts, given it will require something more concrete than the drivers repeatedly practising the procedure. “It’s certainly not our strength at the moment,” he explained in Japan. “The reason it has not been addressed so far is because there is not an obvious thing to be fixed.
“But on the other side, we know it’s top priority for us, because we have good qualifying [pace] and it’s not worthwhile starting there if you are losing all the positions at the start. So now it’s good for us I would say, in a way, that two races have been cancelled. As a team we will have some more time now to reflect on the start of the season.”
All Audi can do is wait for the FIA’s catchup mechanism to kick in, where a power unit more than 2% in deficit of the leading F1 internal combustion engine design will be allowed a redesign. The first point at which the FIA’s ADUO mechanism was set to kick in was after round six at the Miami Grand Prix, although round six would now be in Monaco due to the cancelled Middle Eastern race weekends.
The FIA have yet to confirm when the ADUO mechanism will be applied, but for Audi more than others — the sooner the better.
NEXT ARTICLE: Max Verstappen Exit Rumours Grow as Ralf Schumacher Claims Major Career Shake-Up Coming Soon
“Max will reorient himself.” – Former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher believes that a major change could be on the horizon for Max Verstappen, as the reigning superstar continues to lose important people around him at Red Bull Racing.
In recent months, the Dutchman has seen several trusted allies either leave or prepare to depart. Long-time advisor Helmut Marko and legendary designer Adrian Newey have already left, and race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is expected to leave by 2028 at the latest.
According to Schumacher, this steady erosion of Verstappen’s inner circle could trigger a decisive career move sooner rather than later.
“From my point of view, Max will reorient himself next year,” he explained in an interview, suggesting that the four-time world champion may no longer see a long-term future with Red Bull…CONTINUE TO READ
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