Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) again without points: “A trouble-free weekend would be good”

The mood in both Audi garages after the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa could hardly have been more different: Gabriel Bortoleto was once again celebrating points with an 8th-place finish, whilst Nico Hülkenberg, in 13th, came away empty-handed once more. Following technical problems in qualifying, there was little that could be done on Sunday.

Hülkenberg summed it up after the race: “There were plenty of battles in the midfield, but we paid the price for starting too far back.” Hülkenberg had qualified 12th on Saturday after experiencing gearbox problems. After Q2, he was even forced to pull over to the side of the track at his team’s request. He added on Sunday: “We also lost a few positions at the start, which of course made the race even more difficult. It was hard to recover from that.”

What gives Hülkenberg hope

However, after another race without points, the German is trying to stay positive: “It’s encouraging that we were able to keep up well with the pace in the race and were generally in the thick of the action throughout. We gained a few seconds thanks to the virtual safety car. But it probably would have taken a bit longer. Instead, I rejoined the track right behind Pierre and Liam.” He is referring to Alpine driver Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.

Hülki: “I found myself right in the middle of that battle. And because we lack pace on the straights, it was difficult to move further up the field. The pace itself actually felt quite good by our standards, though. So we’ll take that away from this, even though we lost a few positions and therefore still need to check a few things.”

Bortoleto now in double figures

On the other side of the Audi garage, however, there was great delight at scoring points: Gabriel Bortoleto finished eighth again, just as he did at Silverstone, thereby picking up four points for the World Championship standings. With a total of ten points now, all of which go to Bortoleto, Audi is now just one place behind Williams in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s a bitter pill for Hülkenberg, though: all ten points go to his team-mate, whilst he himself is still without any points in 2026.

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Hülkenberg: “It’s great to see that Gabriel has scored points for the team. It’s a well-deserved result and another positive achievement for everyone. Hopefully we can build on this in Budapest, have a flawless weekend on my side of the pit and give ourselves the chance to compete at the front.”

Is Budapest better on paper?

Looking ahead to this weekend’s race in Budapest at the Hungaroring, Hülkenberg says: “Engine power plays a lesser role on that circuit. So, on paper, it should work in our favour. But you never know. A clean weekend without any problems would be good…”