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Audi entered Formula 1 in 2026 as a full works team with its own power unit, taking over Sauber. It scored two points in the first eight races and fifteen in the six since. Every race for Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, measured.
After eight races of its first Formula 1 season, Audi had two points. Six races later it has seventeen.
Audi arrived in 2026 as a full works team, taking over Sauber and building its own power unit. The start was slow: a ninth place for Gabriel Bortoleto in Melbourne and nothing more until Silverstone. Since then the team has scored in five of six races, with Bortoleto eighth at Silverstone and Spa and
Twenty-five Japanese Grands Prix have been held since 2000, all at Suzuka except two at Fuji. Pole won seventeen, Max Verstappen won four in a row from 2022, and Kimi Raikkonen won from seventeenth in 2005 with a last-lap pass. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
Every message the drivers exchanged with their engineers on air this season, from the Canadian Grand Prix onward, is on Gabriel Bortoleto's and Nico Hulkenberg's team radio pages.
The first seven rounds:
| Round | Grand Prix | Bortoleto | Hulkenberg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian | 9th | Did not start |
| 2 | Chinese | Did not start | 11th |
| 3 | Japanese | 13th | 11th |
| 4 | Miami | 12th | Retired |
| 5 | Canadian | 13th | 12th |
| 6 | Monaco | 11th | 13th |
| 7 | Barcelona | 11th | Retired |
The next seven:
| Round | Grand Prix | Bortoleto | Hulkenberg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Austrian | 11th | 12th |
| 9 | British | 8th | Retired |
| 10 | Belgian | 8th | 13th |
| 11 | Hungarian | 11th | 9th |
| 12 | Dutch | 13th | 8th |
| 13 | Italian | 11th | 12th |
| 14 | Spanish (Madrid) | 13th | 10th |
The first half of Audi's season was a run of near misses: Bortoleto finished eleventh in Monaco, Barcelona and Austria in a row, the first car outside the points each time. From Silverstone onward the points started to come. Bortoleto's grid position improved too, from an average of 13.6 in the first eight rounds to 10.7 in the six since. Hulkenberg's barely moved, 11.5 to 11.7, but his results did: eighth at Zandvoort, ninth in Hungary and tenth in Madrid.
Audi is one of five power unit makers in 2026, and the only one supplying just itself. Its cars have failed to finish 5 of 28 entries, 18%, in the middle of the five: better than Ferrari-powered cars and Honda, behind Mercedes and Red Bull Ford. The comparison is in every 2026 F1 retirement.
Bortoleto's eighth at Spa was the team's best afternoon of the year, and his engineer did not hold back:
EngineerCome on, that's P8, P8, more than, more than, charge up, more than, and we drive into P1, into turn 1, what a race you have driven, Gabi, what a race, unbelievable, second assist, yes, yes, yes, coming to the pit, drive it slowly, come on, what a race, amazing driving, mega job, mega job, mega quality, thank you very much. Again, fantastic job, really well deserved, you did a fantastic, to put out a fight, unbelievable fight out there, and great job for the team on the pit stop, double stack getting you and Nico in a good time for double points.
DriverYes, thanks everyone, what a weekend, amazing, I thought my T.I.2 would take off again, thank
Engineeryou. And remember, full switch off when you're around the parking lot, and again. What a fight you put out there today, really well deserved P8, fantastic job mate, and the team and the guys in the pit stop did a fantastic job as well, fantastic, great job.
"What a race you have driven, Gabi, what a race." Bortoleto's reply: "Yes, thanks everyone, what a weekend, amazing." Every message from that race is in our Belgian Grand Prix 2026 race radio archive.
Nine rounds remain, starting with Baku on 26 September. Audi are four points behind Haas for seventh in the constructors' championship, and six ahead of Williams. The full table is in the 2026 standings.
Results, grid positions and points come from Formula 1's official timing data and match the published standings after the Spanish Grand Prix.
A non-finish includes crashes as well as failures. The timing data records that a car retired, not why.
Quotes are taken only from lines where the speaker label and the words agree.
17 after the Spanish Grand Prix, eighth in the constructors' championship: 10 for Gabriel Bortoleto and 7 for Nico Hulkenberg.
Yes. Audi entered Formula 1 in 2026 as a works team, taking over Sauber, and builds its own power unit. No other team uses it.
Eighth, three times: Gabriel Bortoleto at the British and Belgian Grands Prix and Nico Hulkenberg at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
For a team scoring its first points, the radio after the flag is often the best part of the race.
The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, transcript beside the audio, and collects every FIA document of the weekend as it is published. There is also a live timing Dashboard, currently in beta.
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Nineteen Chinese Grands Prix have been held in Shanghai since 2004. Lewis Hamilton won six, pole won twelve, and in 2026 Kimi Antonelli took the first win of his career there, at 19, with Hamilton on the podium for Ferrari for the first time. Every winner, grid slot and safety car, measured.
