“We are here to win” - Nico Hulkenberg sets clear goal for Audi F1 entry
Nico Hulkenberg has reinforced Audi's ambition to win multiple championships in F1 after they scored points in their debut Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Hulkenberg joined Kick Sauber in 2025 ahead of their planned rebrand to Audi, with the team keen to have a German driver on the grid.
He was joined by the extremely talented 2024 Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, highlighting the team's ambitions to compete at the top.
The German began life at the team as most experienced driver in the sport's history to never stand on the podium, but that all changed in his 239th start at Silverstone last year where he finished third.
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Hulkenberg will be looking to add more trophies to the team's cabinet following the transition to Audi, which has involved the team supplying their own power unit for the first time.
The transition to Audi power marks the end of a 16-year Ferrari engine partnership, and despite Audi's motorsport pedigree, becoming a works team remains a huge risk for any brand.
Audi were officially confirmed to join the grid back in 2022, and they have been working towards 2026 ever since to maximise their debut season in the sport.
Speaking to SPORTbible at an event organised by bp, the official technology partner of the Audi Revolut F1 Team, Hulkenberg praised Audi's efforts to ensuring the transition from Ferrari is a smooth and successful one.
“Look, Audi committed," he said.
"I don't know what it was four years ago, and it's been a long lead of time and development process of getting the power unit out and ready, develop it, make it reliable.
“So obviously we started at the beginning of this year, we did the first test and everything."
Despite the German's praise, he was keen to emphasise Audi's journey is just beginning, and given Audi's reputation, simply making up the numbers will not be deemed good enough.
“I think it's fair play and respect to what they've done already, but we know there's more work to do," Hulkenberg said.
“There is a lot of things to really fine tune and optimise, but we're only at the beginning. In terms of ambition, Audi's a pretty big global brand, they're not here to for fun.
“Obviously, in the long term, they want to be competitive and fight for victories and championships."
Hulkenberg admitted that victories in 2026 might be a step too far at this stage but knows clear progress must be made even at this early stage.
“Are we gonna do that at the beginning and this year? Probably not, but we're working towards it and pushing in the meantime to do as well as we can.
“I think it's important that we learn and progress over the course of this year."
Performance vs sustainability
Although the main focus in 2026 is on the power-units, the new regulations are set to give fuel a more prominent role than in previous seasons.
As well as the chassis and power-unit changes, F1 made the decision to move to advanced sustainable fuels in 2026, as part of the sport's goal to reach net zero by 2030.
Speaking to SPORTbible at the event, bp's Motorsports Technology Fluid Lead Luc Jolly highlighted the fuel's role within the new battery systems.
"The role of the fuel compared to last year? It's still the primary energy source of the car, but now it's 50-50 or-ish, electric versus combustion, and all of that energy is still coming from the fuel," he explained.
"Everyone will have their own completely bespoke fuel bench. So from that point of view, in terms of the power, numbers you produce, it's very reliant on the fuel and the efficiency."
Audi will be the only team using bp fuel for the upcoming season, and Jolly is confident the team have got the correct balance between performance and sustainability.
"What's super important is optimising a precise fuel blend, which is completely bespoke for the Audi engine," he continued.
"You've got to balance performance versus sustainability, there's decisions you need to make in trade-offs, and the guys that have got the balance right will be the ones, I think, that do well.
"As I say, today we're sitting here, we're in a good place with that,"
Hulkenberg and Audi will be hoping to add to the points scored by Bortoleto in the season opener this weekend, as F1 heads to Shanghai for the first sprint weekend of the season.
Tom Jenkins