Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has spoken out in defense of McLaren after Red Bull raised concerns over the legality of the Woking-based team’s Formula 1 car.
McLaren, who have made a strong start to the 2025 season, currently sit 105 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructors’ standings following the Miami Grand Prix. Their rapid pace has drawn suspicion from Red Bull, who accused McLaren of illegally cooling their tyres by adding water—an action that would provide a performance advantage.
The FIA previously investigated similar allegations in 2024 and found no evidence of any wrongdoing. Despite this, Red Bull has reportedly resumed scrutiny of McLaren using thermal imaging technology.
Wolff, however, dismissed the renewed accusations, praising McLaren’s integrity and engineering prowess.
“I think the team around Zak [Brown], Andrea [Stella], Rob Marshall… these are good people with integrity,” Wolff said.
“They’ve simply done a better job understanding tyre management. It’s a legitimate performance gain—not something underhanded.”
Wolff emphasized that strong competition should be respected, not questioned:
“When someone outperforms you, the response shouldn’t be to assume they’re cheating. That’s not how we should operate in this sport. We just need to be better.”
McLaren CEO Hits Back
McLaren CEO Zak Brown responded to the allegations with a mix of humor and frustration. During the Miami weekend, he was seen on the pit wall with a bottle labeled “tire water”—a cheeky nod to the cheating claims.
Brown later called for reforms to the way teams raise technical accusations in Formula 1.
“There’s a formal process for protests. It should be extended to all allegations to prevent the spread of baseless distractions,” he said.
“If you’re going to accuse someone, you should put your name on it, pay a deposit, and be ready for consequences if you’re wrong. That would put an end to frivolous, unsporting behavior.”
Brown even proposed that teams making false accusations should have the associated costs deducted from their budget cap as a deterrent.
As tensions continue between F1’s top teams, the spotlight now turns to how the sport manages internal disputes—and whether calls for reform will gain traction.