Audi’s troubled first F1 2026 test continues with another stoppage

Audi’s troubled start to F1’s private Barcelona test continued as the team suffered another stoppage on the third day.

After taking Tuesday off, Audi returned to testing action on Wednesday but the day had barely got underway when Nico Hulkenberg ground to a halt between Turn 9 and 10.

The reason for Hulkenberg’s stoppage is a suspected hydraulic problem.

It marks the latest setback for Audi this week and comes after the German marque completed only 27 laps on the opening day of the Barcelona shakedown.

A technical issue cut Audi’s day short after Gabriel Bortoleto caused a red flag when his R26 stopped on track in the morning session.

“We were doing a pretty decent job in the morning, putting some labs onboard, testing some things, we were going in the right direction,” Bortoleto said.

“But as we all expect, this is a shakedown and everything can happen, and we expect to find issues here and there in the car. And 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 things, you know, we're finding everything now to not hopefully find it in the next test or even in the first race of the year.

“Overall, I would say when we were running, positive, good to have a few [laps] with the new car, the new regulations, power unit and everything. So hopefully on the next day I'm driving, I can get a few more laps on board.”

Audi have taken over the former Sauber squad for 2026 and have produced their own power unit for F1’s overhauled regulations.

If Audi cannot get back out on Wednesday, they will have lost vital track time for the second of their three permitted test days in Barcelona.

Wednesday’s morning running was interrupted by a second red flag when Ollie Bearman’s Haas stopped on track.