The Monaco Grand Prix promised to be the ultimate test for Aston Martin. The serpentine streets of the Principality provided the perfect stage to determine whether, without the burden of Honda’s engine, we could see the AMR26 become more competitive, but that proved far from the truth. Adrian Newey’s claim that his chassis was the fifth-best in Formula 1 collapsed like a house of cards.
Nevertheless, Monaco’s peculiar characteristics also served to reveal something few expected: the Audi chassis is genuinely good. The German marque left Monaco points-free thanks to a string of catastrophic misfortunes, but throughout the weekend they remained solidly in the role of the fifth team, not far from McLaren.
In a purely chassis-driven circuit, Audi wasn’t that far from McLaren
Anyone reviewing the Monaco Grand Prix results will not find much to celebrate for Audi. The German brand again failed to score, just as in the previous races. Yet anyone who followed the weekend noticed an important detail: Audi was much stronger than it appeared.
On a pure-chassis track where the engine’s importance is minimal, Audi consistently finished as the fifth team, and actually were close to McLaren. On Friday morning Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto finished seventh and ninth, Friday afternoon they were eighth and ninth, and on Saturday morning they ended up seventh and tenth.
Everything pointed toward double points for Audi in Monaco, and looking at how the race unfolded, they could even have challenged for a podium, like Pierre Gasly did with Alpine, albeit later stripped in the stewards’ room. However, Audi faltered at the decisive moment in qualifying, and they ruined the entire weekend.
Bortoleto crashed into the wall, while Hülkenberg was unable to conjure a good lap in Q2. On a circuit where overtaking is nearly impossible, Audi’s points aspirations came to an end there. Yet the weekend left the impression that the VW Group outfit did its homework far better than expected for a debut in Formula 1.
Adrian Newey had boasted in the preseason that Aston Martin possessed the fifth-best chassis on the grid, behind the four giants. But Monaco exposed the reality: while Aston Martin occupied the back row, Audi had the speed to even contend with McLaren for the fourth team. Now the task is to improve the powertrain.
The FIA has already announced that Audi will enter the ADUO. If they manage to bring that noble power unit up to pace, the project could be more serious than it appears.
Images | Audi, Aston Martin
