Tom Kristensen on Audi/Hülkenberg/Bortoleto: Is the glass half full or half empty?

The Dane Tom Kristensen has kept a keen eye on Formula 1 even after his racing career ended, partly as a race steward for the FIA, the world motorsport governing body, and partly as an F1 expert for Viaplay.

As a brand ambassador for Audi – for whom he achieved his greatest successes at Le Mans – the 59-year-old naturally pays very close attention to how the brand with the four rings is faring in the premier class. In the third part of our in-depth interview, Kristensen discusses the interim results of Audi’s F1 team.

Tom, let’s talk about Audi: after eleven GP weekends, they’re eighth in the World Championship with 12 points, having finished in the points three times in a row recently, with two eighth-place finishes from Gabriel Bortoleto and a ninth from Nico Hülkenberg in Hungary. Is the glass half empty or half full at Audi? Definitely half full. I think Audi are doing a more than respectable job. Since the improvements made over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Bortoleto and Hülkenberg have consistently been capable of finishing in the top ten. For me, Audi are one of the bright spots of the season.

Their championship position doesn’t do justice to what Audi is capable of. They’re now often the fifth or sixth-best team. However, to hold their own in the midfield, a team needs to achieve the odd surprise result now and then and give the top teams a run for their money. Of course, one could argue that a team simply has as many points as it has scored. But the fact is, in my view, that Audi deserves a better haul.

Other teams have managed to pull off such surprises from time to time, which is why they are currently ahead of Audi in the World Championship. I’d point to Alpine’s third place in Monaco or Haas’s strong start to the season, when Oliver Bearman finished seventh in Australia and even fifth in China. Audi has the potential for better results, but they haven’t managed to pull off a highlight like that.

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Audi brought its own power unit onto the track in 2026, but many fans still expected the team to be further up the order. Are spectators perhaps underestimating the effort involved? Yes, definitely. Building a power unit from scratch is a Herculean task. I sense a great deal of respect within the industry for how Audi has tackled this challenge and is performing in its first season. They’re steadily making up ground, but under the cost cap, major strides are hardly possible.

Given the limited scope for development, it’s absolutely vital to start at a high level and then make the best of the situation. Since the release of an Evo package in Spain, Audi has taken a significant step forward, and they are now in a position, in terms of speed, to score points with both cars. This must be the goal for the second half of the season.

What’s your assessment of Gabriel Bortoleto’s second season? I think he’s developing very well, and it was very astute of Audi to sign this promising young Brazilian. Anyone who becomes Formula 3 champion as a rookie and then goes straight on to become Formula 2 champion simply has that special something. We’ve seen this before with drivers like Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri.

Kimi Antonelli has edged out Gabriel slightly with his brilliant 2026 season, but I could well imagine the two of them locked in a title battle in a few years’ time. I sense that Bortoleto is a future Grand Prix winner and title contender. He has the skills for it, as well as the right attitude.

Another important point is that the partnership between Bortoleto and Hülkenberg is excellent. The progress at Audi is also down to how well Gabriel and Nico work together and pull in the same direction.

The two are on the same wavelength. I’m not present at the debriefings after practice sessions and races, but from what I’ve gathered, there are two drivers at work here who like each other, who have great mutual respect for one another, but who also spur each other on.

Nico Hülkenberg hadn’t scored any points up until the Hungarian Grand Prix. How could that be? Oh , Nico’s had such bad luck so often. That’s what I meant earlier when I said that Audi deserved better results. I’m glad he finally managed to score points in Hungary, and I’m convinced there’ll be more to come after the summer break.

The two of them are constantly learning from each other. Gabriel can pick up a few tricks from the experienced Nico, but an experienced driver – and I know this from my own experience – always learns something from a young driver too. Learning isn’t a one-way street.

We’ve seen it so often: drivers keep certain things to themselves because they’re keen to protect their own advantage. That’s not good for a team. There’s an open atmosphere between Hülkenberg and Bortoleto.

When there’s a good rapport between two Formula 1 drivers and both understand how important it is to work together to improve the car, that’s when a team really moves forward.