It wasn’t a last-minute decision to put the car into its first run; This had been in the works for, according to technical director James Key, around 18 months. As such, the team had ensured that all of its design and manufacturing goals converged by putting the car into operation in the first full week of January.
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This was important for Audi, because although the team’s former Sauber identity had long appeared on the F1 entry list and had a wealth of data for each circuit, the powertrain division did not. Therefore, the team needed to find a benchmark for the new power unit as a point of comparison.
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Although the car had only covered the 50 km (31 mi) allowed for a shakedown, it offered the team a monumental boost: the car works. And, although the temptation was there to delay development by a couple of weeks – Audi could have been fired up in the garage for the first time at F1’s collective pre-season shakedown event in Barcelona – Key felt that going early was the best solution.
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“This was a decision that was made about 18 months ago, so we knew this would happen,” Key explained at the German brand’s launch in Berlin. “It wasn’t a last minute thing. But no, we wanted to, as one of the only two new kids on the block with this, you really need a track reference.”
“And we agreed with our power unit colleagues that we will try to get out on track as quickly as we can. The problem with that, when you think about how the development process of these cars has gone, from a chassis technical point of view, everything was speculative until January 1, when we were able to start doing the aerodynamics.
Audi F1 Team
Audi F1 Team
“Of course the aerodynamics define the car. You have a very, very late start to really define how things should be, so you want to go as long as possible, but then you are racing early.”
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“So everything has been massively compressed over the winter. It’s been a very intense year for us. But we wanted to get that benchmark on track, and we did it successfully, which is really brilliant, with the power unit.”
Key even added that the equipment had perhaps started operating a couple of days ahead of schedule, despite the surprise fallout from the Gabriel Bortoleto crashes at Brazil 2025 that threatened to reduce construction time.
Of course, and wanting to steer clear of the hyperbole here, Bortoleto’s pair of abs at his home grand prix weren’t going to jeopardize Audi’s overall chances in 2026, but they could have at least put the test on the back burner.
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After the Brazilian crashed in the sprint race, and then another in the full grand prix, Sauber had to restart its manufacturing operation to produce 2,025 parts to replenish stock, thus losing time in manufacturing its 2,026 parts.
“We knew it was going to be the first full week in January. I think originally it might have been a couple of days later. But we knew it was going to be the first full week. We almost got there on Friday,” he added.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
“But like I said, it meant everything was compressed. So the team’s effort to last as long as possible without compromising on anything so that we could allow the aerodynamics to develop. But then to build a car and fire it up before Christmas and get it running in January was absolutely huge.”
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“(The Bortoleto accident) had an impact because we were making parts for that car. It was unfortunate but, again, the team moved heaven and earth to recover from that.
“We had to make new wings while making the other car at the same time. And this is what I said before, just to finish, that the environment is changing rapidly. It’s a unique opportunity, this journey with Audi.
“And I think the team is very motivated by the possibilities that they now have in front of them with the investment that we’re getting, with the manpower that we’re getting. Doing things like this is not easy for them, but they want to do it. They want to work overtime to make sure we meet our deadlines.”
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