From the worst to one of the best
In 2024, under the Sauber banner, the Hinwil outfit was the laughing stock of the pit lane. The issue came down to the material used for the wheel nuts, which kept cross-threading. Countermeasures brought in at the Australian Grand Prix limited the damage, but the annual average still left them stuck in seventh.
Two years on, Audi is now a regular near the top of the stop charts. At Zandvoort, the team produced the quickest stop of the race with Nico Hulkenberg, who was stationary for 2.3 seconds on lap 19. Gabriel Bortoleto followed with 2.62 seconds, the 10th-best time of the day.
At Monza, nobody got near Audi. Hulkenberg was back on his way after 2.44 seconds on lap 27, two tenths faster than Red Bull’s best stop on Max Verstappen’s car. At Madrid, Mercedes and Red Bull hit back, but both Audi cars still finished third and fourth with 2.34 and 2.38 seconds.
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A transfer from Milton Keynes
Behind the turnaround sits one name: Lee Stevenson. He arrived in Hinwil in mid-2024 as chief mechanic and is now team manager, after 20 years at Red Bull, where he ended up running Verstappen’s mechanics. In other words, he spent years inside the operation that dominated the pit lane, posting the best annual average every season from 2020 to 2024.
Allan McNish, Audi’s sporting director, praised the work after the Italian Grand Prix. “The group is made up of pretty much the same people, and they’re delivering very well and very consistently now,” the Scot said.
Asked whether Audi had inherited a Red Bull strength, he just smiled. “I wouldn’t say we’ve inherited it, I think we’ve developed it.”
When tenths matter twice as much in the midfield
Consistency matters just as much as raw time. Across a Grand Prix, there are between 25 and 50 stops. McNish makes the point bluntly: when his team strings a few together, they’re all good.
That detail matters in the fight going on around them. Audi is battling Racing Bulls and Alpine for best of the rest behind the top four teams. The margins are tiny.
For reference, Mercedes leads the 2026 average ahead of Racing Bulls, which also holds the season’s quickest stop, with 1.99 seconds for Arvid Lindblad in Hungary. Red Bull and Ferrari follow. Audi is no longer playing in a different league.
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