Since Audi assumed control of the Sauber operation amid F1’s 2026 regulatory overhaul, the manufacturer’s debut as a full power unit builder has been closely watched. The team launched its first in-house motor programme while bringing the existing chassis work forward, but early race results have exposed a combination of performance and reliability shortfalls. Drivers and engineers agree there is clear headroom to improve, with the power unit repeatedly identified as the area where the biggest gains can be made.
Qualifying form has offered encouraging glimpses — the car often challenges for Q3 — yet translating one-lap pace into race finishes has proven difficult. The squad’s lead driver has not started lower than 11th across the six qualifying sessions to date, but the team has failed to score points in the last three rounds. That disparity between single-lap speed and race day outcomes points to deeper issues under the skin of the package.
What the drivers are saying about pace and behaviour
Both drivers have been candid about causes. Nico Hulkenberg highlighted a multifaceted problem, putting driveability and outright output on the same list. He called driveability a long-term subject that needs many elements to work “in harmony” and admitted the team is not producing the most powerful unit on the grid. His comments underline that compromises in throttle response, torque delivery and integration with the hybrid system all contribute to race vulnerability in certain conditions.
Driveability, power and hybrid interaction
Gabriel Bortoleto echoed the assessment, saying the package is suffering from a lack of engine power while praising the underlying chassis. He described how races often become a matter of “chasing on the straights,” having to manage energy and try to claw back speed where the unit falls short. When asked whether the problem was purely the V6 core or also the recovery systems, the response was that it is likely a mix — a number of small deficits across the V6, turbo, and energy recovery systems add up to a noticeable lap-time gap.
Miami weekend: a concentrated example of the issues
The Miami race highlighted the shortfall in raw velocity. At the speed trap the team recorded 319 km/h, a figure only marginally ahead of Cadillac on 318.5 km/h but substantially down on Mercedes, which hit 334.1 km/h. Beyond outright top speed, the weekend was riddled with separate technical headaches: Hulkenberg’s car caught fire after a leak, Bortoleto was disqualified from the sprint amid a spike in air pressure, the Brazilian endured a braking fault and the German reported an overheating symptom. Each failure was distinct, exposing vulnerabilities across different systems.
Earlier technical setbacks and their impact
These Miami troubles followed previous weekends where both drivers were unable to start a grand prix — one incident apiece in Australia and China — due to technical problems. That history has pushed reliability to the top of the list internally. The pattern of varied, singular faults emphasises that fixes cannot be limited to one component; the team must shore up multiple systems simultaneously to raise the baseline performance and finish races consistently.
How Audi plans to respond and the road ahead
Transitioning from a customer team to an organisation that designs and manufactures an entire powertrain in-house is a major step. As Hulkenberg noted, the operation is new to this dimension of Formula 1: it is complex machinery and Audi is still at the beginning of the learning curve. There has been an intense push to prioritise reliability and improve the unit, but the engineers acknowledge it will be a work in progress and that there are no overnight remedies for the combined problems of power, driveability and hybrid efficiency.
Looking forward, the pathway is incremental: targeted upgrades, careful reliability work and refined integration between chassis and powertrain. The positive is that the car’s underlying package appears competitive over one lap, giving engineers a foundation to build from. If Audi can close the gaps in the power unit and raise the consistency of its hardware, the qualifying promise could begin to translate into regular points and stronger race results.
