Audi Revolut F1 Team scored a point at the first Spanish Grand Prix on the Madring. Nico Hülkenberg finished 10th after a sharp pit stop under the early Virtual Safety Car; Gabriel Bortoleto was 13th after a long first stint that never got the late Safety Car it needed. Andrea Kimi Antonelli won for Mercedes, ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
One point from a new street circuit
Qualifying had left both cars just outside the top ten — Hülkenberg 11th by 0.019 seconds, Bortoleto 12th. On a brand-new Madrid layout where overtakes barely existed over 57 laps, Sunday was about strategy and the pits — not hero passes.
Hülkenberg started on softs. When the early Virtual Safety Car hit, that soft start lined up with the right pit window. Racing director Allan McNish said the stop was the key: Nico came in behind Esteban Ocon and rejoined ahead after a fast crew. Soft to hard on lap 14. Then tyre management to the flag for P10.
Hülkenberg: “We got the maximum out of what we had today. Starting on the soft tyre meant the early Virtual Safety Car was the right window for us to pit, and the pit crew did a fantastic job to get me ahead of Esteban [Ocon]. That was probably the key moment of our race because it gave us the track position we needed.”
Bortoleto’s alternate covered the chaos that never came
Across the garage, Bortoleto went long on hards — covering a late Safety Car, VSC, or red flag. None of those showed up. He took softs on lap 47 and finished 13th. Same midfield pace for everyone; almost nowhere to pass.
Bortoleto: “We got unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car today, which pretty much messed up with our plans, and after that nothing else happened until the end of the race — not much more we could have done from there, especially as chances to overtake were slim.”
McNish called it a real team game — one car on Soft–Hard, the other covering late chaos, both stops clean. “Ultimately, I have to say the point today was delivered by the team in the pits.”
Constructors: 17 points, Baku next
That point puts Audi on 17 in the 2026 constructors’ championship — still eighth, four behind Haas in seventh (team Sunday notes). In the drivers’ table, Bortoleto sits on 10 points and Hülkenberg on 7.
Europe’s done for the year. Next: Baku, 24–26 September. Different street circuit. Another shot at turning midfield pace into more than one point.
Sources: Audi Revolut F1 Team — Spanish GP Sunday; audif1.com; team race notes via Pitpass; FIA race report; Formula 1 2026 calendar. Official race photography © AUDI AG / Audi Revolut F1 Team — editorial use.