Audi’s “frustrating” F1 problems and their knock-on impact explained

Allan McNish has explained the “frustrating” issues that held Audi back at last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

The recently installed Audi Formula 1 racing director was left with varying degrees of concern after a number of unrelated problems limited progress in the United States.

After an initial strong showing in Sprint Qualifying, Gabriel Bortoleto was disqualified from the Sprint race for a technical breach, while Nico Hulkenberg had been unable to take the start after a fire broke out in his car.

Further bad luck was to come the German’s way on Sunday, as an overheating drivetrain forced him to retire yet again.

“Well, obviously you don’t want them - that is for sure,” said McNish when asked about the power unit-related woes.

“But if you look, a lot of PU manufacturers are having some issues, it’s not just us. If I look at the start, [Kimi] Antonelli for example, at the last one, and I look at it also here, and if I look at a few other deployment [issues]; I think there are a lot of areas that everybody is trying to manage, control, and also learn about.

“The more learning, and certainly for us, we’re learning about a lot more than some of the others, because they’re already in the system with understanding 75% of it.

“Definitely, we need to tidy those, there’s no question about it.”

On Bortoleto’s disqualification due to exceeding the maximum engine intake air pressure, he added: “It’s not something that was performance beneficial yesterday for Gabi. However, the penalty is in or out, and that’s the rules. However, we do have to improve on that, and it’s a clear focus of where we are. And it’s also a clear learning for the operation as well.”

Hulkenberg’s failure to start on Saturday was the third time an Audi has retired before a race has begun this year, with the German doing the same in Australia, and Bortoleto suffering similarly in China.

Asked if a recurring problem is to blame, McNish said: “No, it’s not, but obviously, that’s not what we need.

“We need reliability, and then we can also start developing in other areas as well. We can improve clearly.

“The frustrating part is not having two cars at the start on Saturday, and especially with the performance that underlined part of it, and that’s certainly an area that’s a clear focus number one. We need to work on that.”