McLaren attack Red Bull with 'bogus allegations' challenge

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has told Red Bull to put its money where its mouth is over the "bogus" and "frivolous" allegations the Milton Keynes squad has made.

The six-time constructors' champions believes the Woking team is employing illegal tyre and brake cooling tricks to massage its pace advantage over its F1 rivals.

It has been reported, by German publication Auto Motor und Sport, that Red Bull has taken matters into its own hands, investigating McLaren using thermal imaging cameras after the FIA found no evidence of wrongdoing last season.

The accusation is the papaya outfit has been putting water in its tyres to cool them and the surrounding components, something which produces tyre temperature and degradation benefits - in both qualifying and race settings.

It led Brown to publicly joke at Red Bull's expense over the Miami Grand Prix weekend, drinking from a bottle with "tire water" labels stuck to it.

Whilst Christian Horner saw the funny side of it, the American has now upped the ante, arguing the gag cuts to a more deep-seated problem - and taking aim at Red Bull over how the team conducts itself.

"[That] was poking fun at a serious issue, which is teams have historically made allegations of other teams," Brown told media including RacingNews365. "Most recently, one team focuses on that strategy more than others.

"There's a proper way to protest a team at the end of the race, and you have to make it formal, disclose where it comes from, put some money down.

"I think that process should be extended to all allegations to stop the frivolous allegations which are intended only to be a distraction.

"So if you had to put up some money and put on paper and not backchannel what your allegations are, I think that would be a way to clean up the bogus allegations that happen in this sport, which are not very sporting.

"And if someone does believe there's a technical issue, by all means you're entitled to it. Put it on paper, put your money down.

"It should come against your cost cap if it turns out you're wrong, and I think that will significantly stop the bogus allegations that come from some teams in the sport."

Brown: 'It needs to be meaningful...'

Currently, if a team wishes to protest, the FIA sporting regulations mandate it must pay a €2,000 deposit along with its allegation and any supporting evidence.

With Brown suggesting this process needs to be broader, he was asked what amount he had in mind for rivals to lodge protests with the motorsport governing body.

In the 53-year-old's view, it must at least become a cost cap consideration for the team making the accusation.

"It needs to be meaningful from a: 'I'm choosing to spend money on that instead of my own racing car' [perspective]," he replied. "We're all right at the limit of the budget gap.

"I know we will not waste a dollar on anything that we don't think brings performance, so it's probably 25 grand. Would I spend 25,000 on a distraction tactic or develop my own race car? I'd spend it on my race car all day long, so I think it needs to be.

"It doesn't need to be hundreds of thousands. But it needs to be meaningful enough that you're taking away performance you could be spending on your car."

Immediately after, when asked, Brown denied McLaren has had received any indication or push from the FIA to change its tyre and brake cooling management on the MCL39.