Christian Horner ramps up McLaren pressure as allegations storm resurfaces

Christian Horner has told McLaren that "there will always be questions" now that it is the pace-setter in F1 as the water-cooled tyres allegation has resurfaced.

Across the Miami GP weekend, McLaren CEO Zak Brown drank from a water bottle labelled 'Tire Water', a thinly-veiled reference to claims from Red Bull that McLaren could be using water to cool its rear tyres - something banned under the technical regulations.

Both the FIA and Pirelli have insisted that any such usage of water would be easily detectable, with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella even effectively telling Red Bull to 'put up or shut up' with a protest if it feels the MCL39 is illegal. 

Reflecting on the situation, after a period of technical tit-for-tats between McLaren and Red Bull in the second half of 2024, Horner believes running at the front of F1 will always bring more scrutiny.

"Look, I mean in Formula 1, there are always going to be questions that are raised," Horner told media including RacingNews365. 

"[McLaren] did exactly the same about the front suspension on our car last year, so it is inevitable when you're running at the front, as we have for quite a few years, you will come under more scrutiny.

"That is the part and parcel of Formula 1, and in many respects for the FIA, all of the teams do the vast majority of the work because their resource is far greater and there is always competitor analysis going on across all of the teams.

"That is just part and parcel of Formula 1, but it is important to understand McLaren is the standout car and they have the kind of advantage we had a couple of years ago.

"They're doing a very good job in managing temperatures and particularly on the mediums [in Miami], that is where they were probably the most competitive. 

"That is what we need to focus on, we have brake issues which compounded the problem in the race, but that is what we need to understand moving forwards."