Audi's Focus on 'House in Order', Not Rivals, Says McNish

Allan McNish, Audi's racing director, has revealed the team's focus is not on its rivals but on getting its "house in order", with reliability emerging as a key area for improvement.

Audi is about to enter its first summer break as a Formula 1 team following a respectable start. After ten rounds, the Hinwil-based squad has scored 10 points, all courtesy of Gabriel Bortoleto, leaving them ninth in the constructors' standings, just one point behind Williams.

McNish described the season as "better than expected" in terms of pure performance. "Overall, it's as expected in terms of having some hard races, races where we didn't get it right, and races where we had reliability issues. In terms of pure performance, we're probably a little bit better than expected," he told Sky F1.

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"Right now, we're focused on trying to get our own house in order and making sure we maximise everything. So far, it's going pretty well," he added.

Reliability has been a clear weakness, with issues affecting Nico Hulkenberg at Silverstone and a problem in qualifying at Spa. "We've obviously got to get some of the reliability issues sorted out that have afflicted us over the last two races. That's fundamentally the thing we've got to try and fix," McNish stated.

With the second half of the season ahead, Audi appears to be taking a cautious approach, building a solid foundation before pushing further. If technical gremlins can be resolved, they could become a nuisance in the midfield.