Audi has shut the door on further power unit upgrades until 2027, racing director Allan McNish confirmed. The budget cap is the deciding factor — McNish cited the need to manage spending across multiple seasons rather than burn resources on incremental gains now.
The team's lone 2026 upgrade arrived at Barcelona, targeting driveability issues that had plagued Nico Hulkenberg early in the year. Hulkenberg described it as fine-tuning torque delivery and shift quality, the kind of invisible work that matters when the car is on the limit. It worked: Audi has scored ten points across the last three races, with Gabriel Bortoleto carrying eight of them, enough to lift the team past Williams into eighth.
The 2027 package will be hardware-based, not calibration tweaks. McNish wouldn't quantify the step, but framed it as benchmarked against rivals who won't be standing still. Audi's second half hinges on chassis development alone.
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