Eleventh place in six of eleven races is not the debut Audi advertised. Mattia Binotto is not arguing with the results - he is arguing that they are not the measurement that counts yet.
Audi's project leader spent the summer break making a case built on a comparison from his own past. Speaking to RacingNews365, the former Ferrari team principal was blunt about the state of the Hinwil operation Audi inherited when it took over Sauber.
"If someone is visiting Mercedes, Ferrari, or McLaren, and then visiting ourselves, they will realise that there is a gap or a clear difference," Binotto said. "Our buildings, our infrastructure, are not at the level of the top teams, but that is not a blame. That's a matter of fact because what was the ambition of the past team ownership; so today, there is a gap, and we need to ramp it up."
Binotto arrived at Maranello in 1995 as an engine test engineer, in the middle of Jean Todt's teardown and before Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Michael Schumacher turned up. Hinwil today reminds him of it exactly.
"It is an old and small factory, little people and processes implemented, so for me, the comparison is really back to the Ferrari, so it's like the Ferrari of 1995 compared to the Ferrari of today."
The 2030 target that has trailed Audi since before its first race got firmer wording too. "A lot is happening, and we are honestly and truly building our foundations for the future, so yes, I can confirm 2030 is certainly achievable [to fight for the world championship], and 2030 is a concrete objective."
A factory expansion is being studied rather than announced. "Expansion does not happen overnight, but we are looking into those projects; it is something we are seriously considering, and once there is a decision, we will inform."
Gabriel Bortoleto has now hitched himself to that date. Ten points in his second season, and speaking to Motorsport's Brazilian edition, the 21-year-old ruled out a move.
"I have a long-term contract with Audi. I will be with Audi next year, and not only next year, but also the following years," he said. Asked about exit clauses in what he stressed is a confidential agreement, he replied that "there are no clauses."
He measured his future by Binotto's calendar rather than a term. "Mattia Binotto always talks about 2030. It's a project we truly believe in. I believed in it when I joined the team, they believe in my potential, and that's all I can say."
That is a commitment, not a confirmation. No year is named, no signature described, and Audi has announced nothing. The Dutch Grand Prix on 21 August is where such things usually surface.
Racing director Allan McNish supplied the detail that shows how long Audi has been circling Bortoleto. The driver programme was drawn up in 2023, with the Brazilian barely into his Formula 3 campaign at Trident.
"Gabi was actually on my original list [for the programme]," McNish told F1. "Gabi and Freddie [Slater] were on that original list, and he had just started F3. There were six drivers that I was sort of [looking at] and two of them are with us now, so it's quite nice actually."
McNish is realistic about the cost of developing a young driver in public. "You can never put an old head on young shoulders, but you can definitely support them to try and make the right mistakes because they will make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, I still make mistakes. Nico makes mistakes, Gabi makes mistakes. It's about how you deal with them. It's like a long, long university in a way."
Binotto pushes back on the rookie-and-veteran framing of his line-up. "Our lineup is often described as a rookie alongside an experienced driver. I prefer to define them as two fast drivers, and I think that's excellent. Both are very quick," he told PlanetF1. The improvement he points to is technical: "You can already see that right from FP1 he reaches the limit - or gets very close to the limit of the car - whereas before it took him longer to find his rhythm on track."
Nico Hulkenberg, whose first points of the year came in Hungary, drew similar praise - "always been very fast and consistent throughout his career, in addition to being extremely solid on Sundays."
There is a problem none of the optimism resolves. Bortoleto has said the R26 chassis ranks among the grid's best, which points the finger at the power unit - the reason Audi entered the sport in the first place. Selling 2030 gets harder every Sunday spent in eleventh.