Audi wants to implement the lessons learned in Melbourne in China

Just days after Gabriel Bortoleto scored two points at the Australian Grand Prix, the Audi team is heading to Shanghai for the second round of the season. For Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal of the German team, there are many positives to take away from Melbourne, but the early retirement of Nico HulkenbergEven before the start of the formation lap, it served as a reminder of the road still to be covered.

“Starting the season with points in Melbourne was a fantastic achievement for everyone involved and a great reward for the work done at our bases over the winter. However, this weekend also served as a stark reminder of the work ahead, after witnessing the disappointing technical issue that prevented Nico from racing. He followed Gabi’s performance from the garage, a testament to his commitment to the team since joining.”

Thanks to the nine days of winter testing accumulated in Barcelona and Bahrain, and the first Grand Prix of the season, the German team can now approach China, and its Sprint format, with a clear idea of ​​the points to improve and on which to focus for the future.

“We mustn’t forget that we’re only at the beginning of our journey, so we need to keep learning as much as possible and progressing from race to race. That said, we already have a pretty clear idea of ​​the strengths and weaknesses of our package, and the areas we need to work on to improve and close the gap to the leaders. As for Shanghai, the Sprint format means we’ll have very limited practice time. So it will be important to make the most of the time we have on track, especially since there’s still so much to learn about this new generation of cars.”

For Nico Hülkenberg, lamenting his fate in Melbourne will be of no use, and the German driver is logically turning his attention to China and a chance to perform well: “I don’t want to dwell on the disappointment of Melbourne, but rather focus on the positives of that event: both our cars were competitive in every session, which gives us confidence for China. Shanghai is a very different circuit from Melbourne, and it will be interesting to see how these cars perform on the long straights we have this weekend. We only have one practice session before sprint qualifying, so we’ll need to be ready from the first lap to ensure we’re at the front of the midfield right from the start.”

Ninth in the championship after finishing in the same position in Melbourne, Gabriel Bortoleto is counting on the Bahrain tests to be able to best understand the Shanghai International Circuit, which notably includes a long straight, and overall characteristics very different from those of Melbourne a week earlier.

"Given the track layout, Shanghai is much more similar to the challenges we faced in Bahrain during the pre-season. We therefore hope to be able to use some of the lessons learned to gain an advantage in the only test session we will have."

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