2026 Italian Grand Prix - Sunday

The team expected Monza to be one of the more challenging rounds for its package, but well-timed strategy decisions, solid race pace and the fastest pit stop of the race helped to make the most of the opportunities available. Now, the focus shifts to Madrid in one week’s time, with the new Madring circuit making its long-awaited debut as the final European race on the calendar.

Earlier today, Freddie Slater was forced to retire from the Formula 3 Feature Race due to an unlucky mechanical failure, but remains at the top of the championship standings. The Audi Driver Development Programme driver takes a 15-point lead into the championship finale in Madrid, with three races still to come.

Allan McNish, Racing Director: "We knew Monza would be one of the more difficult circuits for our car, so to come away with both cars finishing just outside the points is a solid effort. The starts made life difficult for both Nico and Gabriel, and with such a long run to Turn 1, losing positions early meant we were always fighting back.

"I think everyone did a good job to maximise what was available today. Both drivers recovered well, the strategy calls were strong, particularly around the Virtual Safety Car for Nico, and the pit crew once again delivered an excellent stop. The execution across the team was very good, and that's something we can take with us as we head to Madrid."

Nico Hulkenberg (Car 27):
Race result: 12^th
Fastest lap: 1:24.364 (Lap 53)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Medium) - Lap 3 (New Hard) - Lap 27 (Used Medium)

"Overall, we knew this was always going to be one of the more difficult weekends for us given the characteristics of the circuit, so considering that, it wasn't a bad day. The second start was much better, and I managed to gain a few positions on the opening lap, but unfortunately, I lost out again shortly afterwards. We'll need to review exactly what happened there and understand if there was something we could have done differently.

"From then on, it was a fairly straightforward race. We extracted what we could from the package today, and that's about where we were this weekend. We'll go away, review everything and turn our attention to Madrid.”

Gabriel Bortoleto (Car 5)
Race result: 11^th
Fastest lap: 1:26.188 (Lap 31)
Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Soft) - Lap 3 (New Medium)

"I think I gave everything I had today. The start definitely didn’t make things easy for us, and once you lose positions on the opening lap, it's always a challenge to recover. We pushed hard and probably used the tyres a bit too much, but that's part of trying to fight back. The Racing Bulls were quite strong today, especially on the straights, and keeping up with them was more tough than expected.

“Still, the team gave me a car capable of fighting much closer to the points than we expected, and we'll keep building from that heading into Madrid next week, where hopefully we’ll have better opportunities.”