Racing
© Spencer
Audi arrives at the Miami Grand Prix starting a new phase of its Formula 1 project, with Allan McNish taking charge trackside for the first time and the team needing to turn early promise into points after a mixed opening three races.
Miami is Audi’s first race since Jonathan Wheatley left the team, prompting a reorganization of its trackside leadership. Former Formula 1 driver McNish has been appointed racing director and will oversee on-site sporting matters alongside operations director Mattia Binotto. In a team statement, McNish called the weekend “a very proud moment for me as I step into this new role with the team,” adding that he is “looking forward to this next chapter as we continue to build our project.”
The timing matters because Audi’s start has offered enough encouragement to show potential, but not enough execution to build momentum. Both cars have been able to fight close to the top 10 and Gabriel Bortoleto scored the team’s first points in the season opener, yet Audi still has only those two points to show for its first three grands prix as a manufacturer. It also failed to make the Grand Prix twice and has been set back by smaller recurring issues, including pit-stop problems.
That left the five-week break as a chance to reset. McNish said Audi had analyzed “all data from the opening rounds in detail” and treated Miami as “a chance to see where we stand compared to our competitors.” He said the aim is to apply those lessons in a sprint weekend “where everything is more condensed and the margins for error reduced.”
For Nico Hülkenberg, the pressure is immediate. He heads to Miami after consecutive 11th-place finishes, close enough to suggest points are possible but still outside the top 10. In a team statement, Hülkenberg said the break helped Audi understand “what we need to improve, especially in putting a full weekend together.” He reduced the task to a simple next step: “Now it’s about execution.”
That challenge is sharper in Miami because Audi will have only one practice session before sprint qualifying. Hülkenberg said “every session really counts,” with the focus on putting the weekend together quickly and giving the team “a proper chance to fight for points.”
Bortoleto also spent the break working with the team in Hinwil and Neuburg as Audi looked for more improvements. He said the time away “was useful, but now I’m really looking forward to being back in the car.” His target for Miami is the same one facing the team as a whole: “put everything together better across the weekend, make the most of the one practice session and be in a good position from the start.”
That is the test facing Audi in Miami. McNish’s first weekend in charge comes with a clear measure of success: whether the team’s post-break reset can finally convert its pace near the top 10 into the consistent points finishes it has so far left on the table.