How do Audi assess their progress after introducing a comprehensive upgrade package in Austria?

Gabriel Bortoleto believes Audi is heading firmly in the right direction after the team's extensive upgrade package delivered encouraging results at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

The German manufacturer introduced one of its biggest development packages of the season at the Red Bull Ring, bringing a new front wing endplate, an updated floor, a revised beam wing, a new rear wing and modified rear suspension fairings in an effort to improve the performance of its 2026 challenger.

While the upgrades did not immediately propel Audi into the points, Bortoleto finished 11th for the third consecutive race, narrowly missing out on a top-10 finish but continuing the team's upward trajectory.

Despite repeatedly falling just short of scoring points, the Brazilian insists there is little reason for frustration. "I'm not frustrated," Bortoleto said ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix. "I think realistically, in the last races, it's everything we could achieve.

"Racing Bulls, they were a little bit ahead of us the whole weekend and then obviously no one had any issues with the car during the race, so we just finished actually where I put the pace of the car. I don't think we could have done much better than P11."

Although three successive 11th-place finishes have left Audi agonisingly close to opening its points tally, Bortoleto believes the team is building a much stronger foundation than it had earlier in the season.

"Obviously, three P11s in a row, it's always so close to the points. I want to score points for the team. I know how important it is, but at the same time, we just need to keep building up the way we are."

"I think we've progressed a lot from the beginning of the season. I think we are having many less issues and now we are being able to put more clean weekends."

"And I think if we keep going in this direction, we're going to at some point step into the points and then hopefully we can consistently stay there."

Bortoleto was also positive about the impact of Audi's comprehensive upgrade package, revealing that the revised components made the car significantly more predictable and easier to drive.

"It was a decent upgrade, I would say," he explained. "It was quite a bit better. I don't know how much in lap time I can estimate on that, but definitely we put the car in a bit more consistent way."

"I can drive it having less issues, having less unpredictable snaps or things happening. And I think we went in the right direction, definitely. I think it was a good upgrade that worked as we expected."

One of Audi's biggest weaknesses during the opening phase of the season was its poor race starts, which regularly left both drivers losing positions before the opening corners. However, the Austrian Grand Prix offered signs of improvement, with Bortoleto making up a place off the line.

The rookie remains cautious about declaring the problem solved, though. "I don't know, to be honest," he said when asked whether the start issues were now behind the team.

"I think last race was very good in that sense. I managed to overtake one car in the start. It was the only car I overtook the whole year [so far] in the first lap."

"But at the same time, we need to keep building in that sense. I feel like we were able to do that last weekend and we need to do it again here and next weekend."

"And then at some point, if we keep doing it every weekend, we can say that we improved the starts. But it cannot be a coincidence of only one weekend. But definitely we are in a happy place now comparing to previous ones."