Audi Revolut F1 Team brought its biggest R26 update of the season to Baku and left with nothing to show for it. Nico Hülkenberg finished 11th and Gabriel Bortoleto 15th. Two Safety Cars handed opportunities to half the midfield, and the Audis were among the cars that couldn’t take one. Up front, George Russell held off Max Verstappen by 0.196 seconds to win for Mercedes.
Fourteen new parts, and a lot riding on them
Formula 1’s upgrade list showed roughly 14 new components on the R26:
- a new front wing and nose
- revised front suspension fairings
- an updated floor and bodywork
- changes to the rear wing and rear suspension
The FIA submission also listed a revised engine cover. We broke the package down in our Baku preview.
The early signs were good. After Thursday practice, team principal Mattia Binotto told Formula 1 the first data showed the package “delivering as expected.” He also made clear that correlation mattered as much as outright pace, meaning the car on track had to behave the way the simulations said it would. Correlation doesn’t score points, though. Friday and Saturday had to do that.
Qualifying: both cars out in Q1
They didn’t. Bortoleto qualified 17th (1:45.799) and Hülkenberg 18th (1:45.920), both eliminated in Q1.
Hülkenberg blamed a yellow flag at Turn 15 and a lost tow on his final lap: “that combination killed us today.” Bortoleto was more puzzled. He described a car short on grip that felt “weird,” even though he believed the upgrade itself was working. Whatever the cause, starting 17th and 18th in Baku is a hard place to be. It’s a street circuit where lost track position is difficult to win back.
The race: chaos everywhere, points nowhere
Saturday’s 51-lap race gave the back of the grid every chance it could ask for. Alex Albon’s crash brought out the first Safety Car. A restart collision that took out both Alpines and Lando Norris brought out the second. Russell’s lead disappeared, the pack bunched up, and several drivers who started behind the Audis made it count:
- Kimi Antonelli climbed from 16th to fifth.
- Haas scored with both cars.
- Carlos Sainz took the final point for Williams in 10th.
Hülkenberg missed that point by one place, finishing 33.231 seconds behind the winner. Bortoleto came home 15th, 44.230 seconds back after a 10-second yellow-flag penalty. Both cars finished and neither scored. A major upgrade plus a chaotic race should have added up to something. For Audi, it added up to nothing.
What it means for Audi’s first season
One weekend isn’t a verdict on 14 new parts. New packages often take a few races to show what they can do, and Hülkenberg said after qualifying that there’s more to extract in the coming weeks. Still, the honest read on Baku is simple: two Q1 exits and P11/P15 aren’t what a major upgrade is supposed to deliver. Our preview was more optimistic than the results turned out to justify.
Next up is the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, followed by Singapore. The new parts stay on the car, and now they need to start scoring.
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Sources: Formula 1 — Azerbaijan GP 2026 race result; FIA — Final Qualifying Classification; Formula 1 — Audi upgrade after practice; Formula 1 — Q1 exits / driver comments; FIA Doc 71 / Stewards Doc 68 (Bortoleto 10s yellow-flag penalty). Official race photography © AUDI AG / Audi Revolut F1 Team — editorial use.