F1 star accuses rival team of building 'illegal car' in concerning team radio from Miami GP
A Formula 1 star has questioned the legality of a rival team's car during the Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying.
On Friday, the qualifying sessions for the Miami Grand Prix sprint took place.
To the surprise of many, Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli stormed to the first pole of his F1 career.
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The 18-year-old Italian clocked an impressive lap time of 1:26:482, beating McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
As a result, Antonelli will be the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history when he lines up in P1 for Saturday's sprint race.
Reflecting on his historic achievement, Antonelli said: "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. 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."
However, the legality of Mercedes' W16 was questioned during the qualifying session.
While following Antonelli's teammate George Russell, Williams star Alexander Albon said via his team radio: "I don’t know how that Merc is legal."
The Thai driver did not expand any further as Russell ended up putting the W16 fifth for the sprint, with Albon eighth.
Speaking after qualifying, Albon admitted he was disappointed with the outcome.
He explained: "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.
"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."
Albon continued: "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."
Albon's teammate, Carlos Sainz, will start from P15.
Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying top 10:
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli
- Oscar Piastri
- Lando Norris
- Max Verstappen
- George Russell
- Charles Leclerc
- Lewis Hamilton
- Alexander Albon
- Isack Hadjar
- Fernando Alonso
Marcus Chan