China F1 weekend "exposed Audi's weaknesses", says Jonathan Wheatley

Motorsport photo Audi F1 team boss Jonathan Wheatley says the Chinese Grand Prix "exposed our weaknesses" as the team tries to get a grip on power unit driveability and reliability. Audi's long-awaited debut as an F1 works outfit has been a tale of two halves. The German manufacturer surprised friend and foe with the performance of its first-ever F1 power unit, which has allowed it to slot into F1's midfield from the start in Melbourne.

But it has also suffered from serious reliability issues which left Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto unable to make the start in Australia and China respectively, and the Shanghai International Circuit further exposed driveability issues which saw Audi lose out in the midfield battle. Bortoleto had to be pushed back to the garage from the grid with an issue that is believed to be similar to the one that struck Hulkenberg in Australia, leaving the German as Audi's only representative in the race. It was effectively Hulkenberg's first full-distance race of the season given his Melbourne DNS, and it uncovered several issues Audi needs to get on top of, including a slow start off the line and a general lack of driveability.

The absence of McLaren cars and other attrition could still have yielded points for Audi, but a slow pitstop put paid to those chances as Hulkenberg finished 11th. Debriefing the race, team principal Wheatley said Shanghai further uncovered pain points Audi must address as its focus remains on making its power unit more reliable and easier to drive. "Look, it's hugely disappointing.

First of all, it's the second race in a row where we've only got one car to start the race," Wheatley said. "As a team, we apologise to Gabriel for that. It's something we need to really focus on in terms of our reliability at the moment.