Formula One’s Red Bull Accuses Rivals of Sneaky Trick by Injecting Water Into Tires to Improve Cooling

Over the weekend of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing had been concerned that some of its competitors were injecting water into their tires to control the temperature.

This would contravene Formula 1 regulations because any attempt to artificially cool tires by adding liquid is strictly forbidden. Pirelli, the exclusive tire supplier for Formula 1, however, reports no irregularities after a comprehensive post-race tire inspection.

Pirelli Finds No Evidence of Water-Cooled Tires

(Photo : Peter Fox/Getty Images) SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 01: Director of Pirelli F1 Mario Isola attends the press conference after practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 01, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

According to MSN, the rumors had been seen at the Singapore Grand Prix when Red Bull apparently claimed to have seen moisture inside the inner rims of its wheels after tire removal and suspected injection of water via the valve to cool tires.

What's alarming is that controlled cooling could actually allow a performance increase, mainly during intense races. Even if the water in question was minuscule and easily hidden from testing procedures, the effect on tire temperature might be somewhat telling.

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FIA and Pirelli Tighten Their Screws on Rubber Regulations

F1 requires high levels of tire performance to maintain competitiveness; therefore the usage of the tires will have stringent rules. One can see barcoded tires individually fitted by the Pirelli engineers; there won't be any scope of cheating on them. 

Based on the given speculations, Nikolas Tombazis, the head of the FIA single-seater requested monitoring along with coordination with Pirelli to ensure fairness among the competitors. 

On the contrary, the head of F1 Pirelli revealed that water injection, even being technically possible, is one of the effects that gives disadvantageous results, like extremely higher tire pressure.

"I cannot see anything strange from the data we have," Mario Isola, Pirelli's head of F1 and car racing, said. "I don't have any evidence."

Though the present analysis from Pirelli does not point out conclusive evidence of tampering, Pirelli and FIA agreed to monitor and investigate the issue. Isola further stated that Pirelli has made an agreement with FIA to ensure the integrity of tires is not compromised and fair competition is in place.

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