Horner denies accusing McLaren of illegal tyre tricks

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has refuted claims that his team is directly accusing McLaren of cheating, despite speculation about the championship leaders' tyre management techniques.

In Miami, rumours circulated that Red Bull had privately raised concerns with the FIA about McLaren's dominant 2025 tyre performance, suggesting they might be illegally injecting water into Pirelli tyres for cooling.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown responded with a public jab, sipping from a "Tyre Water" labelled bottle on the pitwall and challenging Red Bull to file a protest that he said should be costly and non-refundable.

Horner, however, distanced himself from any accusations of illegality, stating, "I'm not saying there's anything illegal about that car. My compliments to McLaren, they're in their own class at the moment."

He defended the practice of raising queries, adding, "There will always be questions asked in Formula 1. McLaren did exactly the same thing with our front suspension last year. It's inevitable that when you're at the top, as we have been in recent years, everything is scrutinised."