05/05/2025 11:30
Toto Wolff has said he has "no doubt" the McLaren is legal after a
Miami Grand Prix weekend which saw the return of previously quashed
Red Bull allegations. Tempers started to flare at the Miami
International Autodrome, with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown
effectively telling Christian Horner and his team to 'put up or
shut up' over claims the Woking squad is using illegal tyre and
brake cooling methods. When those suggestions originally surfaced
towards the end of last season, the FIA found no evidence of
wrongdoing on McLaren's part. It emerged over the round in Florida
that Red Bull has supposedly been carrying out its own
investigation , using thermal imaging cameras to get a better
understanding of the constructors' champion's brake and tyre
temperatures. Brown was also seen drinking from a bottle labelled
"Tire Water" during practice in a thinly-veiled dig at Horner, who
quipped back himself . Wolff, however, can see nothing that
indicates impropriety on McLaren's part, underlying the "integrity"
within the rival F1 team. "I think that the team around Zak
[Brown], Andrea [Stella], Rob Marshall... these are good people
with integrity," the Mercedes team principal told media including
RacingNews365 . "If in the past, [we] often say: 'Well, let's look
at whether there's something borderline', but I have no doubt that
these guys [McLaren] stay within the rules. "It's just really good
development [with] that car. They've understood how to manage the
tyre much better than everybody else and, in my opinion, it's
totally legit." Swiping at Red Bull George Russell finished a
distant third to the two MCL39s of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris
in the Sunshine State, crossing the line over 37 seconds behind the
Australian, but Wolff does not see that as grounds for pointing the
finger. The 53-year-old took aim at Horner and Red Bull, arguing it
is not the "right attitude" to make accusations of cheating just
because a competitor is out-performing you. "Also, from a team
management point of view, we should never... when somebody is doing
a better job than you, we should not look at that and say: 'They're
cheating', because that's not the right attitude anyway," the
Austrian said. "So we just need to become better and eventually not
get [lose] 30 or 35 seconds over 57 laps." Incidentally, Red Bull
contested the results of the Miami Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen
following Russell home in fourth. The Milton Keynes squad believed
the British driver had not sufficiently reduced his speed under
yellow flags, but the FIA rejected the protest .
