Audi boss responds to eye-catching Gabriel Bortoleto 'top three' claim

Audi boss Allan McNish has poured cold-water over an eye-catching claim from driver Gabriel Bortoleto over its F1 car.

Over the Austrian GP weekend, Bortoleto claimed that the R26 chassis could potentially be "fighting for the top three" if it had a more powerful engine. 

The power unit is Audi's first attempt at an F1 power unit, and is in line for ADUO assistance from the FIA once this is officially confirmed, with the team scoring two points from the opening eight races for Bortoleto's ninth in Australia.

However, it has also suffered dreadful luck with Nico Hulkenberg dropping from the points in Monaco due to a time-penalty, and then retiring in Barcelona after a piece of gravel flicked up by Liam Lawson hit the kill switch in a freak incident, whilst running in the points, with Lawson finishing eighth. 

The team has made no secret of the drawback of its package, but McNish dismissed Bortoleto's claims about the chassis, referring to the chassis and power unit as a "complete package."

"If we had the same top speed as Mercedes or Red Bull, we would have been fighting for the top three," Bortoleto explained to media, including RacingNews365, after qualifying. 

"You have access to GPS data, and you can compare the corners in qualifying, and we are very quick in all the corners, and we miss a lot on the straights.

"Don't get me wrong, we still need to improve our car, but we have been doing it, and I think we could easily be fighting there. We lose massively on the straights, but unfortunately, that is the reality right now."

When Bortoleto's claim was then put to McNish, he rejected the idea of splitting the power unit and chassis. 

"I think it is quite clear in the numbers where we are in medium and high-speed corners, and we are very good," he said.

"We can still improve a little bit in the low speed, and there are a few other bits and pieces, but for the top three, top four, I wouldn't go for it. 

"It is a car and a power unit, and that is the important thing. Separating them off is, in theory, a way to do it, but in practice, you need the power unit to make the car go around the corner as well as the chassis itself.

"So it is a complete package, and that's what we talk about, a complete package, and the driver is a part of that package. In reality, that's where we are."