In the coming weeks, Audi will try to reward its steady work on the R26 with World Championship points
After a frustrating start to the season, Nico Hülkenberg and Audi want to “force results” in the coming weeks, as he put it during the press conference ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. The 38-year-old emphasized the team’s progress so far.
“If you compare how the car felt in the first two or three races to where we are now, there’s certainly been a positive development,” explains the Audi driver. “I think it’s just a matter of time—and a matter of whether we’re able to put that into practice, stay out of all the [chaos], and remain focused.”
In Monaco and Barcelona in particular, the experienced Hülkenberg failed to do just that. While a collision with Sainz cost him potential points in the Principality, a bizarre incident in Spain led to an early retirement.
Since the season opener in Melbourne, the team with the four rings has not finished a race in the top 10. Hülkenberg thus remains without a single World Championship point so far and is in 19th place in the standings.
Nevertheless, he confirmed the team’s upward trend at the press conference and, regarding expectations for the upcoming weekends, said: “We don’t know what to expect. That’s not the point. It’s about what we put on the track and how we perform.”
Hülkenberg also emphasized the European leg of the season: “Now we have a few races and tracks coming up that I like. Obviously, this is the summer season, so most of the races will be pretty hot.”
“Silverstone this coming weekend is one of my favorite tracks. So we’ll give it our all and try to finally bring home some points on Sunday.”
Silverstone, in particular, is a memorable place for the Audi driver: It was here that Hülkenberg celebrated his first—and so far only—Formula 1 podium in 2025. Since then, the former Sauber team has become the official works team of the Audi Group.
“There’s certainly been a major change within the team,” explains Hülkenberg. “All in all, it’s been positive.”
“The first five or six races were really tough for us and truly challenging in many areas. But I think we’ve fought our way through it and clawed our way back to the top. We just haven’t reaped the rewards yet.”
That’s why, according to Hülkenberg, the motto is: “We’ll keep working and push to make these [results] happen.”
So far, the engine has been the main obstacle to such results. The team’s string of failures was particularly evident in the early races and often resulted in TV footage of a smoking R26. In Barcelona, they already rolled out the first ADUO update for the power unit in order to gradually close the performance gap with the other manufacturers.
