Mattia Binotto, head of Audi's Formula 1 project, has pinpointed the power unit as the primary area costing the team performance this season. He emphasized that improvements in energy efficiency, deployment, and driveability could yield significant gains. The comments come during a five-week break in the F1 calendar.
Audi entered Formula 1 as a works team in 2026 after acquiring Sauber at the end of 2025. Binotto told F1.com that the power unit accounts for most of the performance gap to rivals. 'Most of our gap in performance is in the power unit, which is not a surprise,' he said. The team anticipated this challenge when developing a new unit from scratch and has set long-term goals, including an objective for 2030. Plans are in place to address it as part of their journey, he added. Beyond raw power, Binotto highlighted issues with energy efficiency, deployment, and driveability. He noted harsh gear changes making the car unstable during braking and acceleration, possibly due to incorrect ratio arrangements. 'If you make the sum of the two, between performance and driveability, it can be up to a second per lap just by then,' Binotto stated. He praised the chassis work, saying the team has done a good job there. Formula 1 is in a five-week break between the Japanese and Miami Grands Prix, following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races. Binotto described this period as 'very important' for refocusing on developments. 'Race preparation has been very time consuming... this April off will be very important for us to rejoin, refocus on what are the next developments,' he explained.