Zak Brown calls for F1 protest process change to stop ‘bogus allegations’

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MIAMI — McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown wants to see a change in Formula One’s protest process to stop teams making “bogus allegations” after poking fun at Red Bull with his water bottle in Miami.

During practice at the Miami International Autodrome on Friday, Brown was filmed by the F1 broadcast on the pit wall sipping from a water bottle that had labels on it reading: “Tire water!”

It was a reference to a suggestion that emerged last year during McLaren’s surge in form that one of the secrets to its pace was cooling its tires using water on the inside, with suspicions being linked to the rival Red Bull team.

McLaren beat Red Bull to the constructors’ championship in 2024, claiming its first teams’ title in 26 years, but Max Verstappen was able to hold on and retain his drivers’ crown for a fourth year.

Asked about his water bottle during a roundtable on Saturday morning in Miami, Brown said it was “poking fun at a serious issue” of teams making technical allegations against its rivals. Brown said that “most recently one team focuses on that strategy more than others.”

Zak Brown’s water bottle with the label: “TIRE WATER!”

cheeky 😅 pic.twitter.com/yD8ayUk2H1

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) May 2, 2025

Brown explained that he wanted to see a change in the current technical protest process, whereby allegations made by teams had to go through proper channels and that any protest lodged would come with a financial cost to be deducted from the budget cap.

Currently, teams are entitled to lodge a protest after a race if they believe there has been a technical infringement by a rival team, but the money is kept by the FIA, F1’s governing body, and there is no deduction from the cost cap which is used for car development.

“I think that process should be extended to all allegations to stop the frivolous allegations which are intended only to be a distraction,” Brown explained.

“So if you had to put up some money, and put on paper and not back channel 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.

“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 said it needed to be a “meaningful” figure for teams, and that by taking it out of the budget cap, it would force them to choose between lodging a technical protest and spending the money on car development.

“We’re all right at the limit of the budget cap,” Brown said. “I know how much we will not waste a dollar on anything we don’t think brings performance.

“It’s probably 25 grand? Would I spend 25 grand on a distraction tactic or development of my own race car? I’d spend 25 grand on my race car all day long.

“It doesn’t need to be hundreds of thousands, but it needs to be meaningful enough that you’re taking away performance you spend on your car.”

Brown added there had been zero indication or change from the FIA in its stance toward McLaren over how it has approached the temperature management of its tires and brakes this year.

Appearing on Sky Sports after practice, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner laughed when he was shown a picture of Brown’s water bottle after practice and said: “We’ll send him a Red Bull down if he needs some energizing.”

(Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

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