F1 2026: Tears at Audi over shakedown

Hulkenberg and Bortoleto in grey revolut F1 kit with R26 background — Photo: © IMAGO

Audi

Tears at Audi over F1 2026 shakedown

Audi officially enter F1 in 2026

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 28 January 2026 14:43

F1 star Gabriel Bortoleto has revealed the team were 'teary-eyed' during Audi's 2026 shakedown.

Before this week's shakedown in Barcelona, some teams opted to run their 2026 cars during a promotional 'filming day', where teams are capped at 200km.

Audi made their first appearance at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on January 9, where lead drivers such as Bortoleto were asked to sum up their emotions.

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“The mood is great, everyone is so excited about it,” said Bortoleto to F1.

“I feel like everyone has been working so, so hard that no one had time to stop and realise everything that has been built and everything we are doing.

“When we saw the car going out for the first time in the shakedown and everyone – you could see a lot of tears in the eyes because people were getting emotional about the project and what to expect of it. I was one of them if I’m honest! It’s just great.”

However, it's not all gone to plan so far for Audi with, Gabriel Bortoleto stopping on track during the first day of the shakedown, while Nico Hulkenberg's Audi also ended up going back to the pits on the back of a pickup truck.

Audi's title winning ambition

Following their launch in Berlin, Audi unveiled their lofty ambitions in Formula 1 which included their title winning plans.

Phrases were bandied about from team principal Jonathan Wheatley and CEO Gernot Dollner, including 'making Audi the most successful team in F1 history'.

To do so, a pretty monumental task then awaits ahead of them, with constructors' title winning teams Ferrari (16), McLaren (10), Williams (9), Mercedes (8) and Red Bull (6) already with an impressive head start.

Dollner also produced a timeline for when he believes Audi can become competitive, and said: "Whenever we join a racing series, we join to win and to innovate and to bring motorsport forward. The ambition is to compete at the highest level and to compete for championships by 2030."

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