Exclusive: Nico Hulkenberg offers Audi 'headwind' insight as major steps targeted

Nine races into the 2026 season, Audi's entry as a works constructor has been anything but smooth. 

Sitting ninth in the constructors' standings on just six points, all scored by Gabriel Bortoleto, the team has been beset by reliability gremlins that have seen Nico Hülkenberg retire from four of nine grands prix while failing to score a single point.

From a car fire en route to the Miami sprint grid, to a gearbox failure at Silverstone, to the bizarre incident in Barcelona where a stray piece of gravel struck the emergency kill switch and shut his car down entirely, Hülkenberg's season has been one to forget in terms of results. But the German is not losing faith.

While luck has firmly been against Hülkenberg, Audi has immense faith in the veteran, with his experience proving highly valuable to the German marque's F1 development. He is constantly praised by the team for the quality of his driving, his feedback and his contributions behind the scenes.

Asked for his reflections on the campaign so far, Hülkenberg told RacingNews365 during an exclusive interview: "Yeah, I think the season is going okay. I think the start was tough, but I think it was always clear that it would be a bit of a headwind, especially at the beginning.

"The ex-Sauber side has experience and has been in Formula 1 for a long time. But especially on the engine, gearbox and hydraulics side, we did everything from scratch and by ourselves for the first time. 

"So, yeah, we had a few difficulties and battles with reliability at the beginning of the season, but I really feel we've already progressed a lot.

"When I think back to Barcelona and Bahrain in winter testing compared to now, the car has evolved a lot, especially on the power unit side. Whilst we don't have too many points, there has been a lot of progress, but it's not really reflected in the championship yet."

Audi's relentless pursuit of engine improvement

Building an F1 power unit from scratch was always going to be Audi's greatest challenge. Under the 2026 regulations, the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 is paired with a significantly more powerful electric motor, creating a near 50/50 split between combustion and electrical output. 

Mastering that integration while rivals have had over a decade of turbo-hybrid development was never going to happen overnight.

Audi's facility in Neuburg has been working flat out, and ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona the team introduced its first engine upgrade of the season. 

Both cars were fitted with new internal combustion engines and turbochargers featuring a series of hardware tweaks primarily aimed at improving driveability rather than delivering a headline power boost. 

It was a necessary and encouraging step, even if Audi's power unit is still regarded as one of the weakest on the grid.

"I think Neuburg, our engine facility and engine department, has been pretty on it and reactive with all the issues we saw," added Hulkenberg. But again, it goes back to winter testing and the first few race weekends.

"Obviously, every time we run the car, we learn and discover issues, where there is more potential, and where we need to improve.

"Every day at the factory they're already working on future developments and solutions. So, in a way, I'm not surprised that we had something ready for Barcelona, because it was needed.

"It was necessary, but it was also positive. Like I said, I think we've made some pretty good gains already, but there is still more work to do and more improvements to be made."