Binotto and Audi’s difficult start
The first step to grow is to understand your weaknesses. At Audi they know them well, and they had also anticipated them in the approach to Formula 1, concluded with the definitive acquisition of Sauber and the debut on track of the four rings in the Melbourne weekend. The R26 lacks top speed – but this is an aspect that with ADUO and Mattia Binotto‘s experience could be fixed more quickly than expected – and reliability: too many zeros collected by Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, sometimes even disqualified for irregularities or not starting due to technical problems.
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The debut of the four-ring brand raised expectations among insiders, but in Neuburg they knew well that the start would be uphill. At least team principal Binotto knew it, who indeed preaches calm despite the two points in four race weekends.
Binotto’s words
“I believe the most obvious aspect is the gap we have at the power unit level. For us it is not a surprise, it was predictable being a rookie engine manufacturer. It is a huge gap, but we already have plans for the future and we are focusing on this,” commented Binotto.
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“There are completely new regulations and I must say that overall we are satisfied with what we have achieved so far. In F1 it is very easy to make mistakes and it is clear that other teams around us are having more difficulties,” he added, evidently referring to Aston Martin. “We are a brand new team and we are brand new engine manufacturers, so we are happy. Of course, there is a lot to do also because our main competitors have very strong and established organizations in terms of size and infrastructure, but our ambition is very high in the long term.”
Several times the former Ferrari man has indicated 2030 as the year to start being competitive, but that very season seems to represent a turning point in F1 with the possible return of V8s, defined by Mohammed Ben Sulayem as a certainty for 2031, but the FIA president’s intention is to bring forward by one season the end of the current generation of engines.
