McNish plunged into Audi turmoil during a challenging debut in Miami.

      Allan McNish faced a challenging first weekend in his new senior position in Formula 1 as Audi's 2026 reliability issues worsened in Miami. The former Toyota driver and Le Mans victor is now in charge of trackside operations after Jonathan Wheatley's exit, collaborating with Mattia Binotto during Audi's restructuring of its F1 team. However, his inaugural weekend quickly turned chaotic.

      Nico Hulkenberg experienced a significant fluid leak before the sprint and subsequently withdrew from Sunday’s race due to overheating problems. Gabriel Bortoleto was disqualified from the sprint for irregular intake pressure and later had his brakes catch fire during qualifying, marking a weekend filled with technical and operational challenges. McNish acknowledged that the weekend highlighted the extent of work required ahead.

      "If he had begun from a standard grid position, he likely would have earned points," he remarked regarding Bortoleto. "The same goes for Nico in a clean race." The 56-year-old Scot maintained that the underlying pace is more promising than the results imply. "The fact that we managed to keep competitive with a relatively small package compared to others indicates that the raw speed is present," McNish noted. However, he accepted that the operational and reliability aspects remain unsatisfactory. "Naturally, we don’t want situations like this to occur," he stated. "Everyone is still in a learning phase. It's not surprising that we don’t get everything right from the beginning."

      McNish also mentioned that he devoted much of the weekend to gaining a better understanding of the organization internally. "There was a lot to learn," he confessed. "I first needed to grasp how the individual departments operate and how they relate to one another. I now have a clearer understanding." Former F1 driver Timo Glock was more direct in his assessment. "Hulkenberg can’t be satisfied with this, nor can Audi with their performance this weekend amid so many technical issues," he commented to Sky Deutschland. "Since the beginning of the year, three races have seen a car unable to start due to technical problems. They need to regroup and analyze their situation. They can’t afford this."

      Hulkenberg himself attempted to maintain a positive outlook despite remaining without points thus far in 2026. "Overall, it was a character-building weekend for us," he acknowledged. "We faced numerous challenges and still have much to accomplish, but there were also some positives." "I believe our pace isn’t too bad. However, we need to convert that into results, get it on the track, see the finish line, and ensure the cars cross it. We’ll keep pushing, stay optimistic, and not let this discourage us."