Williams Driver Alex Albon Queries Mercedes W16 Legality at Miami Grand Prix
Williams Formula 1 driver Alex Albon sparked intrigue during Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying, questioning the legality of the Mercedes W16 car. According to a report by PlanetF1.com, Albon made the comments over team radio as he followed the Mercedes of George Russell, while Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli secured pole position.
As reported by PlanetF1.com, Albon’s remarks came as a surprise, with the driver stating, "I don’t know how that Merc is legal." The comment has left the door open for speculation about what Albon observed on the Mercedes that led him to make such a statement.
At just 18 years of age, Kimi Antonelli made history by becoming the youngest polesitter in F1 history, with a lap time of 1:26.482 securing him pole position for the Miami sprint. Antonelli’s team-mate, George Russell, put the sister W16 fifth on the grid, while Albon will start from P8. As quoted by PlanetF1.com, Albon explained that his own sprint qualifying performance was below his expectations, stating, "Maybe a little bit disappointed in Q3. I thought my lap felt pretty good, but we were a bit further away than I would have liked, so maybe just need to understand it a bit."
Albon also discussed the challenges faced by the Williams team during qualifying, as reported by PlanetF1.com. "I felt like in many ways, the car was a bit better in FP1 than it was in qualifying, and we struggled to get the tyres to work," he said. Despite this, Albon remained optimistic about the team’s chances, stating, "The good thing is, this is not the main one, and we can try and get it a bit better for tomorrow. But saying that, we’re still best of the rest, so I can’t complain too much."
As reported by PlanetF1.com, when asked if Williams can fight for points this weekend, Albon confirmed, "Yes, we can. I think that’s our target." Meanwhile, Antonelli heads into the Miami sprint looking to open his victory account in Formula 1 with Mercedes. The 18-year-old Italian expressed his delight at securing pole position, stating, "I’m feeling over the moon. You know, I did not expect it, but I was feeling good in the car. I was able to improve lap by lap and find that consistency. And yeah, that lap came all together and I’m super, super happy with that."
In his post-qualifying interview, as quoted by PlanetF1.com, Antonelli emphasized the importance of focusing on the sprint race, saying, "And yeah, now we will enjoy this moment a little bit more, but as well, I want to focus on tomorrow, because I really want to try and repeat myself. We did quite a long run in FP1 to try and gather as many information as possible. Of course, we don’t really know the pace of the others, but I guess we will see tomorrow during the race."
