Audi changes Monza gearing before Baku overhaul

Audi's recent improvement has encouraged the team to address two rather different weaknesses, beginning with a change that will be difficult to see at Monza and continuing with one that should be obvious in Baku.

Motorsport-Magazin reports that Audi has homologated revised gear ratios for the Italian Grand Prix. The original first gear was judged too short and eighth gear too long, a combination that complicated starts at one end of the range and limited the car at the other.

Gear ratios are tightly controlled under the regulations, and manufacturing replacement parts requires a lead time of about 24 weeks. The Monza change has therefore been planned for some time rather than produced in response to the most recent races.

Audi has already reduced one of its starting problems by introducing a smaller turbocharger at Barcelona. That improved the response of the power unit away from the line, although the clutch and control systems are still areas in which the team believes it can make progress.

The more substantial change is scheduled for the following race in Azerbaijan. A major aerodynamic package is being prepared for Baku and a team insider told the German publication that the car will look visibly different.

The timing is encouraging. Audi has scored points in four consecutive races after failing to do so in the first seven, suggesting that the underlying car is responding to development.

Monza and Baku both reward straight-line efficiency, but they do so in different ways. The Italian circuit will show whether the revised transmission makes better use of the power unit; Baku should reveal whether Audi can add aerodynamic performance without surrendering the speed it needs on the long run to the first corner.