• Nico Hülkenberg powers to P11 after battling at the sharp end of a dense midfield battle
  • Gabriel Bortoleto executes a blistering comeback drive to gain eight positions
  • Fresh aerodynamic upgrades unlock crucial pace across both Audi C46 entry platforms

Johannesburg, OCTOBER – The Audi Revolut F1 Team continued its encouraging maiden Formula 1 World Championship campaign with a strong, operationally efficient performance at the high-speed Circuit of The Americas (COTA).

Starting from the sixth row of the grid, Nico Hülkenberg executed a calculated and aggressive drive through the notoriously tight opening sector in Austin. Hülkenberg pushed hard within the densely packed midfield group, battling for position across the 56-lap encounter to cross the finish line in P11, missing out on back-to-back point finishes by a narrow margin.

On the other side of the garage, Gabriel Bortoleto demonstrated excellent race craft and resilience. After starting P21 following pre-race grid penalties, the young Brazilian navigated heavy traffic and complex tyre strategy to climb eight positions, taking the chequered flag in P13.

The weekend also provided valuable operational data for the Audi technical team. The aerodynamic upgrades deployed at COTA performed seamlessly, validating the team's ongoing development trajectory back at the factory.

With the first leg of the intense Americas triple-header complete, the Audi Revolut F1 Team heads straight to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix, focused on converting its consistent race pace into further World Championship points.

Allan McNish, Racing Director: “Both drivers delivered strong recovery drives today, although unfortunately we came away just outside the points. For Gabi, starting from the back row following the penalties for the changes we had to make, P13 was realistically the best result available. He drove a clean, very calculated race and made good progress through the field.

“Nico’s race was compromised at the start when the anti-stall kicked in, dropping him to P15. To recover to P11 and to close in on P10 was a superb effort. Ultimately, the result didn’t reflect the performance he delivered or what could have been possible with a clean start. We head to Mexico next week determined to turn that performance into points, and we’ll be back on the attack.”

Nico Hülkenberg (Car 27): "Unfortunately, we lost some ground at the start when the car briefly went into anti-stall, which was a strange one because it happened a few metres after getting off the line rather than straight away. It felt and sounded a bit unusual, so we'll need to investigate what happened and understand why. Obviously, losing those positions right at the start made the rest of the afternoon quite difficult.

"From there, I think we did what we could. Our pace was like the cars around us, particularly the Racing Bulls, but once you're behind, it's difficult to recover. It's hard to say what might have been possible with a normal start, but the midfield remains incredibly close. We'll take what we can from this weekend and head to Mexico for another go."

Gabriel Bortoleto (Car 5): “It was a good race overall; the car felt good and the pace was there. I overtook quite a few cars while keeping it clean, and I had a bit of fun being in the mix, trying my best and putting in some good laps. Obviously, it is always difficult to recover a lot of positions when starting from the back, but it’s good to leave Austin on a decent note. Hopefully, we can carry these positives into Mexico and have a better weekend next week.”

ENDS