The first Sprint Race arrives
A few days after Audi‘s debut in Formula 1, with the House of the Four Rings finishing the first race of its history immediately in the points with Gabriel Bortoleto, it is time for the German team to reconfirm itself at the next event. Already this weekend, the first of the 2026 championship that includes the Sprint Race, the team will go hunting for the top-10 also in China, at the Shanghai circuit.
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Shanghai and Sakhir
A goal already set by the Brazilian Bortoleto, protagonist of a more than positive performance at Albert Park, where he crossed the finish line in 9th place: “Melbourne was a truly encouraging start to the season – he stated – scoring points in our debut race was something very special and a great moment for everyone who worked hard on this project. At the same time, we remain with our feet on the ground: it was only the first of many races ahead of us, and there is still much to learn and understand about our car. Looking at the circuit layout, Shanghai is much closer to some of the challenges we faced in Bahrain during pre-season, so we can hope to leverage some of the lessons learned to gain an advantage for the only free practice session we will have. We will have to work hard and start at our best, because we know how competitive the midfield is at this stage.”
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The one arriving in Shanghai with even more ‘hunger’ is Nico Hülkenberg. The German did not participate in the last race due to a technical problem that forced him into the pits, so the Chinese GP will see him starting from the grid for the first time this championship: “A new weekend, a new race: the beauty of the compact F1 calendar is that you don’t have to wait too long for another opportunity to get in the car and drive. I don’t want to focus on the disappointment of Melbourne, but rather on the positive aspects of that event: we were competitive with both cars in every session, and this is something that gives us confidence ahead of China. Shanghai is a very different track from Melbourne, and it will be interesting to see how these cars perform on the long straights we will have this weekend. We will only have one free practice session before the sprint qualifying, so we will have to be ready from the first lap to ensure we are among the leaders of the midfield from the start.”
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