“I don't know how that Mercedes is legal”: Alex Albon’s cryptic radio message raises eyebrows

Alex Albon raised eyebrows during the Spring Qualifying session earlier in Miami after he questioned the legality of the Mercedes W16. The latter has been excellent on pace throughout the weekend so far and will be fronting the grid as the lights go out in the Sprint.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli put in an impressive lap as the clock ticked down during the Sprint Qualifying session and clinched pole position by a margin of just 0.045 seconds from Oscar Piastri's McLaren. With this, he also became the youngest pole sitter in F1's history at 18 years, beating Sebastian Vettel's previous record.

Mercedes has looked strong over the weekend so far, setting an exemplary pace during qualifying. Although they were close to a second down during the practice session earlier, the team seemingly worked on their car and gained quite a bit of pace on the soft tires.

Interestingly enough, however, Williams Racing driver Alex Albon did question the legality of the W16 during the session. As the timer went on for qualifying, he sent a radio message to his team.

"I don’t know how that Merc is legal," Albon told his team.

However, there was no further explanation for this. His team did not give a definite reply, and Albon did not make any statements following this. Moreover, Mercedes is running the same spec car as they did in Saudi Arabia with no upgrades. The only change in their car is the camber of the rear wing, which is a circuit-specific upgrade. The FIA hasn't intervened in the situation, either.

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Kimi Antonelli reacts to clinching pole position with Mercedes: "I did not expect it"

Kimi Antonelli celebrates his maiden F1 pole position (Getty Images)

The team signed Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton's replacement this year. He had been extremely impressive in the junior series and had also skipped Formula 3 to make his F2 debut last year, and the German outfit signed him before the season's completion.

Following a series of competitive performances on the F1 grid, Antonelli was able to clinch his maiden pole position in Miami. Reacting to his lap, he mentioned that he did not expect to be on top, however, the car did feel comfortable.

"I’m feeling over the moon. I did not expect it, but I was feeling good in the car," he said (via F1). "I was able to improve lap by lap and find that consistency, and that lap came all together. I’m super, super happy with that, and 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."

Mercedes continue to run competitively this season. Considering both their drivers' performances, they have a firm hold of the second place in the Constructors' Championship.