Audi isn’t competing at the sharp end of the grid yet in Formula 1, but Gabriel Bortoleto says the team he joined in 2025 barely resembles the Sauber operation that came before it.
The Brazilian has offered a rare glimpse inside the sweeping transformation that has taken place at Hinwil, describing a project that has changed not just its name, but its mindset, ambitions and working culture since Audi completed its takeover.
Bortoleto did not try to dress up the contrast between the old Sauber and the new Audi-backed structure.
“Yeah, you can really see a difference, especially the mentality has shifted a lot,” he explained.
I think lots of respect for the team that we had for last year and many other years before that, but the truth, reality, is that we are in a different situation right now.
“We have Audi backing us up. It’s manufacturing. We are doing our own engine. We have a lot of financial support from them, so we are not struggling in that sense that maybe Sauber struggled in the past.
"And then the mentality also shifts. We want to achieve big things in the future.”
©Audi
For a team that spent years fighting near the back of the grid, the comments are striking. Audi’s arrival has brought the resources and confidence of a major manufacturer, and Bortoleto says that has altered expectations throughout the organization.
“We have our goals clear inside of the team and we are working to achieve them. And I can really see the difference between last year to this year, how people are behaving, the way they are working differently.”
Neuburg’s engine effort earns praise
The most ambitious part of Audi’s project was undoubtedly its decision to build its own Formula 1 power unit for the new regulatory era. Bortoleto believes the scale of that achievement is easy to underestimate.
“We have an incredible team also in Neuburg that was basically everyone that we didn’t work last year in Neuburg doing the power units. And what they achieved on doing in a first-year regulation, first time they’re doing a Formula 1 engine, is in my opinion an incredible thing,” he stated.
©Audi
Yet the 2024 Formula 2 champion insisted there is no complacency inside the camp.
“Still, we know we need to improve on that,” he concluded. “We need to do better. We know we are behind, but it’s not easy to do what they did. Hats off to them, and we’re going to keep pushing and working in that way, and we’re going to achieve great things in the future.”
The message from Bortoleto is clear: Audi knows it is not there yet, but it is no longer thinking like a team that expects to stay in the midfield.
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