Great result, but I got the feeling that the car didn't perform as well in race pace as it did in qualifying.
It remains to be seen whether this was a deficiency in Bortoleto's race pace or a characteristic of the car.
I couldn’t agree more and if they can develop the package over the year I expect to see a surprise podium at a race for sure. They need to work on the reliability and see if they can extract more performance. Very impressive what they have achieved so far with the engine which is way ahead of Honda, and about equal to RBT I think. Ferrari and Mercedes seems a step ahead, but it is early days to really tell until we get to a few different circuits.BassVirolla wrote: ↑08 Mar 2026, 23:42As usually, when Volkswagen Auto Group gets involved in competition, they do so with a clear aim.
My congratulations to this team. First race for Audi, they achieve the points. Quite a feat!![]()
Remarkable, yes.AR3-GP wrote: ↑09 Mar 2026, 10:11Notice anything surprising?
https://i.postimg.cc/pLw5CMmQ/image.png
I missed that. It might have influenced things. However, both the Mclaren and the Red Bull also did 2 stops so it's still interesting relative to them.continuum16 wrote: ↑10 Mar 2026, 17:40Interesting that in both Melbourne and in the Bahrain test race sim Audi did an extra stop compared to the other midfield cars. Two “races” is not enough sample size to draw definite conclusions but I am interested to see if this is because they suffer a lot of deg or if it was just a product of the VSC timings in Australia.
I also think this extra stop might slightly skew the “average apex speed” data because obviously the driver will push more.
After the next two races it will be more clear.

Yes. Considering where Sauber were in 2024 and the first half of 2025 I’m impressed regardlessAR3-GP wrote: ↑10 Mar 2026, 17:43I missed that. It might have influenced things. However, both the Mclaren and the Red Bull also did 2 stops so it's still interesting relative to them.continuum16 wrote: ↑10 Mar 2026, 17:40Interesting that in both Melbourne and in the Bahrain test race sim Audi did an extra stop compared to the other midfield cars. Two “races” is not enough sample size to draw definite conclusions but I am interested to see if this is because they suffer a lot of deg or if it was just a product of the VSC timings in Australia.
I also think this extra stop might slightly skew the “average apex speed” data because obviously the driver will push more.
After the next two races it will be more clear.
https://i.postimg.cc/7hNjf64m/image.png
no idea what's the exact source of it, but according to today's AMuS article, Audi is still way down on power, and in Melbourne it cost them about 1s per lap to the leaders.V10FURY wrote: ↑09 Mar 2026, 04:15I couldn’t agree more and if they can develop the package over the year I expect to see a surprise podium at a race for sure. They need to work on the reliability and see if they can extract more performance. Very impressive what they have achieved so far with the engine which is way ahead of Honda, and about equal to RBT I think. Ferrari and Mercedes seems a step ahead, but it is early days to really tell until we get to a few different circuits.BassVirolla wrote: ↑08 Mar 2026, 23:42As usually, when Volkswagen Auto Group gets involved in competition, they do so with a clear aim.
My congratulations to this team. First race for Audi, they achieve the points. Quite a feat!![]()
Considering that Audi's average apex speeds are on par with Mclaren and Red Bull, then that would explain a lot. 1 second would also put them in the battle with Mclaren and Red Bull.search wrote: ↑12 Mar 2026, 21:42no idea what's the exact source of it, but according to today's AMuS article, Audi is still way down on power, and in Melbourne it cost them about 1s per lap to the leaders.V10FURY wrote: ↑09 Mar 2026, 04:15I couldn’t agree more and if they can develop the package over the year I expect to see a surprise podium at a race for sure. They need to work on the reliability and see if they can extract more performance. Very impressive what they have achieved so far with the engine which is way ahead of Honda, and about equal to RBT I think. Ferrari and Mercedes seems a step ahead, but it is early days to really tell until we get to a few different circuits.BassVirolla wrote: ↑08 Mar 2026, 23:42As usually, when Volkswagen Auto Group gets involved in competition, they do so with a clear aim.
My congratulations to this team. First race for Audi, they achieve the points. Quite a feat!![]()

Audi is also in Zurich. The pay is significantly better and they can get really good people, even adjusted for cost of living. Half of the Red Bull top brass was also at BMW Sauber from Wache to Waterhouse.AR3-GP wrote: ↑12 Mar 2026, 22:08Considering that Audi's average apex speeds are on par with Mclaren and Red Bull, then that would explain a lot. 1 second would also put them in the battle with Mclaren and Red Bull.search wrote: ↑12 Mar 2026, 21:42no idea what's the exact source of it, but according to today's AMuS article, Audi is still way down on power, and in Melbourne it cost them about 1s per lap to the leaders.V10FURY wrote: ↑09 Mar 2026, 04:15
I couldn’t agree more and if they can develop the package over the year I expect to see a surprise podium at a race for sure. They need to work on the reliability and see if they can extract more performance. Very impressive what they have achieved so far with the engine which is way ahead of Honda, and about equal to RBT I think. Ferrari and Mercedes seems a step ahead, but it is early days to really tell until we get to a few different circuits.
My impression since that race sim from Bortoleto in Bahrain is that the chassis on this R26 is well clear of the midfield. James Key has put a very interesting design on the track and it's flying under the radar.
My prediction is that Audi will become one of the "top teams" by 2028, about 2 years ahead of schedule.
https://preview.redd.it/average-race-pa ... aae890d66b