Audi hit by problems as F1 testing cut short in Barcelona

Audi F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto has revealed the team had to stop running during this week's Barcelona test due to problems with the car.

The German car manufacturers are all set for their first season in the sport both as a power unit manufacturer and as a team, having taken over Sauber at the end of 2025.

Bortoleto has remained in a full-time seat with the team amid their transition, as has his vastly experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg and boss Jonathan Wheatley.

Brazilian youngster Bortoleto is set to begin his sophomore year in the sport in 2026, having impressed in his rookie season last year, particularly towards the latter end of the campaign.

He picked up 19 points all told, but will be needing more this season to convince Audi he is the man for them moving forward, with the team having the ambition of being world champions by 2030.

Now, as pre-season testing begins this week with a five-day private shakedown at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Bortoleto has given his first impressions of the 2026 car, while revealing that issues with the R26 forced the team to stop their day's running on Monday.

"We were doing a pretty decent job in the morning, putting some laps on board, testing some things," he told media after the first day of the Barcelona shakedown.

"We were going in the right direction, but as we always expect, this is a shakedown and everything can happen and we expect to find issues here and there in the car.

"We found a couple of problems that unfortunately put us out of the day basically from the morning already, so I didn't run really much today."

"It was expected this type of thing, we are finding everything now to not hopefully find it in the next tests or even in the first race of the year.

"Overall, I would say when we were running, positive, good to have a feel of the new car, the new regulations, power unit and everything. Hopefully on the next day I'm driving, I can get a few more laps on board."

F1's mammoth pre-season testing schedule

Following the five-day private shakedown in Barcelona, F1 heads to Bahrain in February, where the Bahrain International Circuit will hold two three-day testing events.

These tests will be official pre-season testing sessions, and will be broadcast live on TV, with more representative times likely being put in by the drivers and their respective teams.

It means there are 11 days of testing this year in total instead of the three that have taken place across the last couple of seasons, and that is because of new regulations that are sweeping into the sport.

F1 are hoping to give the teams as much time as possible to be able to iron out any potential teething issues with the new regulations ahead of the first competitive round in Melbourne on March 8.

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