Gabriel Bortoleto isn’t losing sleep over the reliability of the brand-new Audi R26. The car stopped several times during the opening test days in Barcelona, but the Brazilian said the team was able to complete ‘a number of good laps’ once the issues were resolved. According to Bortoleto, a shakedown is ultimately meant to expose those ‘small problems we had here and there’.
The first test week is also over for Audi, but unfortunately the shakedown in Barcelona did not run smoothly. On Monday the R26 of Gabriel Bortoleto was hit by technical problems, and on Wednesday morning Nico Hülkenberg caused a red flag after his Audi stalled on track. Still, Bortoleto isn’t overly worried.
“It was a good week overall,” the Audi driver said after the end of the shakedown. “We lost a few hours at the start because of a number of issues, but once we’d fixed those we put in some good laps. In the end we logged 50 laps. That’s not as many as I’d like, of course, but it’s a start for me. On the first day I didn’t drive at all. But it was very positive to get to know our car a bit better and to put some kilometres on the clock.”
‘That’s what a shakedown is for’
Audi will be on the grid in 2026 for the first time after taking over the Sauber team. The German manufacturer also produces the power units for the former Swiss squad, so with the sweeping regulation changes in 2026 it faces a significant challenge. “The shakedown is literally only meant to put the car on track and to check that everything works,” the 21-year-old driver continued. “Obviously we expected the small issues we had here and there, because that’s exactly what the shakedown is for. So I’m happy. The team is also pleased that we were able to run a few laps in the morning. Nico also put some miles on the car to address a few things I won’t go into now, and we’re moving in the right direction.”
View the F1 calendar for 2026 here
