RacingAudi spent its final 2026 Formula 1 film day at Monza chasing one of the R26’s biggest problems so far: starts. Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto completed 30 laps, 174 kilometers in total, as the team used the restricted session to work through launch practice, clutch control and power-unit software checks before the Miami Grand Prix.
This was not a performance run. Film-day rules capped Audi at 200 kilometers, required special Pirelli demo tires and banned new parts, so the team focused on data collection instead. According to the session summaries, Audi used Monza to validate software changes for the systems controlling the power unit, while also checking energy-management settings and clutch behavior.
Hülkenberg ran in the morning and covered 15 laps. Bortoleto took over in the afternoon for another 15. Both drivers repeated start practice at three points around the circuit: the pit-lane exit, the first chicane and the Ascari chicane. Audi targeted that area directly because, according to the summaries, poor launches in the opening races had regularly cost both drivers places off the line and left points behind.
The work at Monza also went beyond the first few meters of a race start. According to the source reports, Audi had wider drivability issues to address after the early races, including harsh gearshifts in both braking and acceleration phases and trouble with energy management. The team will now take the data back to its Neuburg base, where it will use the information to keep developing the power-unit control systems and to judge whether its current direction is working.
Audi still got through its full program despite two interruptions. Running stopped briefly in the morning after a drone crashed onto the track, with no injuries reported. Later, before Bortoleto’s stint, the team checked a sensor problem that had shown up earlier in the day. After that, the afternoon program went ahead as planned.
Monza was chosen mainly because it was available to Audi, according to the summaries, rather than because it matched a specific development target. One report also noted that the high-speed layout could help with checks on electric energy management, which fit the team’s focus for the day.
The next step comes in Miami, where Audi plans to add a larger package to the car. Mattia Binotto, Audi team principal, said while speaking to the media and referring to his earlier announcement in Suzuka: “I hear from many teams that they want to bring performance packages. That applies to us too. We already have something in the wind tunnel.”
Binotto, Audi team principal, added while speaking to the media and referring to his earlier announcement in Suzuka: “The development rate is pretty high at this point with the new regulations. The package is a big step compared to what we have raced so far.” He also said, in the same media remarks, “How good we are there, I still can’t say. But I am happy with our work. I am confident that we can at least keep fighting where we were before.”