Two cars, one problem
The Japanese Grand Prix seemed like the right occasion to witness Audi‘s return to the points after the 9th place achieved by Gabriel Bortoleto in the team’s absolute debut in Australia. The Brazilian driver himself, in Mattia Binotto’s first weekend as Team Principal of Audi after the unexpected departure of Jonathan Wheatley, secured ninth position in Suzuka qualifying, but the goal of a top 10 finish did not materialize at all.
Read more Antonelli: here are the two areas where he has grown the most, but Russell will return
Bortoleto’s start
The reason, for both the South American and his teammate Nico Hülkenberg, was primarily one: the start. Both, in fact, encountered problems at the start once again, as confirmed by the first statements from Bortoleto, who finished in 13th place: “The race went quite well overall: the Safety Car favored us, as I had decided to stay on track longer to avoid getting stuck behind other cars with harder compounds; our pace wasn’t bad, although I had some difficulties on the straights. What penalized us the most today, unfortunately, was the start: we have known since the first race of the season that it is an area we need to work on, to try to put things right and not compromise the work we do on Saturday. Now, with almost five weeks of break from racing, we will stay focused and make the most of this time to work together on all our foundations and improve the car, so as to return to Miami in May in a better position.”
Read more Sainz: “I feel that we will make real progress during this early break”
Hülkenberg close to the feat
The start also had a significant impact on Hülkenberg’s race, who without a start to forget could have actually finished beyond the final 11th place, thus earning his first points of the season: “We had a good pace and a concrete chance to score points, but our race was compromised by a bad start. Improving starts is an area we need to focus on as a team in the coming weeks. I lost several positions on the first lap, from 13th to 19th position, which made things difficult from then on. Being stuck in traffic for much of the race limited our opportunities to recover. These cars are still quite difficult to manage with the current energy management and overtaking dynamics. You can make maneuvers, but immediately after you become vulnerable, so at the moment it’s a compromise. Among the positive aspects, it was valuable to complete the race and collect a lot of data. We have a lot to work on and improve, and with a month before Miami, we have plenty of time to analyze every thing and come back stronger.”
