Huge F1 row erupts on eve of Brazilian GP as Red Bull accuse title rivals McLaren of illegally tampering with tyres

A huge row has erupted before the Brazilian GP between Red Bull and McLaren.

Red Bull have accused their title rivals of injecting water into their tyres to cool them.

The constructor, who have Christian Horner as team principal, claim McLaren have inserted either water or an unknown substance through a valve in the tyre.

They first came to that conclusion in Singapore when a jet of water came flying out of the tyre rims.

Red Bull have informed the FIA, who will reportedly keep a close eye on the allegation.

McLaren have dismissed Red Bull’s theory. While a spokesperson for Pirelli tyres has confirmed if they felt there was anything tampering with their equipment, they would have told the FIA themselves.

Pirelli regularly collect all the tyres after F1 races and analyse them.

The reason for using water, or any other substance, to cool tyres before they are fitted to their cars in a race is to help limit thermal degradation.

This, in turn, would help drivers drive faster, especially in the later stages of a Grand Prix.

The FIA have already banned this practice before.

Several teams, including Red Bull, were said to have done this a number of years ago.

Now Red Bull believe their rivals are doing this and achieving better performances.

Red Bull and McLaren are already at loggerheads – with their drivers Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, respectively, fighting to be world champion.

McLaren’s ‘mini DRS’ was scrutinised by Red Bull recently, which forced them to tweak the design after conversations with the FIA.

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Currently champ Verstappen’s lead at the top was cut to 44 points, after Oscar Piastri let Norris through to win the Sprint.

However, in the constructor’s standings it’s a different story.

McLaren lead Red Bull by a whopping 63 points, with their nearest rival being Ferrari who trail by only 34 points.