A radio conversation that wasn’t broadcast revealed a curious moment involving Oscar Piastri and Alexander Albon during the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The McLaren driver was taken aback by a sharp slowdown from Williams as they approached the pit lane and had to ask the team if he could pass the rival.
The situation occurred during the virtual safety car period. Albon had realized he was above the allowed delta and had to slow down quite a bit before reaching the Safety Car and the pit entry. With Piastri directly behind, the sudden change caught the Australian off guard.
Piastri then called Tom Stallard over the radio to ask how he should proceed. “May I overtake at the pit-lane entrance? May I overtake at the pit-lane entrance?” the driver queried, receiving authorization from the engineer to pass Albon.
Shortly after, Piastri explained what he had felt inside the car. “I was braked extremely hard by Albon.” Stallard replied that the team would look into what happened: “Understood, we’ll review it.”
The episode was later brought before the FIA’s race stewards after the race. Both drivers were summoned to provide explanations about potential erratic driving, but the analysis of the data and the explanations presented did not lead to any penalty for Albon. After understanding the reason for the slowdown, Piastri also accepted the Williams driver’s version.
Because the moment didn’t appear on the TV broadcast, the episode went largely unnoticed during the race and only drew attention later, with the release of the radio conversation.
On the track, Piastri finished the race in sixth place, while Lando Norris ended up ninth. The result reflected a difficult weekend for McLaren, which lacked the pace to contend for the top positions and finished well short of a podium or victory.
