MIAMI GARDENS, Fla, (AP) — McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown wants the FIA to adopt a rule that prohibits teams from making baseless allegations against their rivals.
Brown floated the idea after using a water bottle on pit lane that had multiple large “ TIRE WATER” labels affixed on the bottle. It was Brown's way of trolling Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner, who allegedly complained to Formula 1's governing body that McLaren was using water to manage its tire temperature.
″(The water bottle) was poking fun at a serious issue, which is teams have historically made allegations of other teams. Most recently, one team focuses on that strategy more than others,” Brown said Saturday at the Miami Grand Prix.
“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," he continued. “I think that process should be extended to all allegations to stop the frivolous allegations which are intended only to be a distraction.”
The protest policy F1 currently has in place requires a monetary deposit from the team that makes a formal complaint. Brown now wants the same process to apply to publicly aired concerns from rival teams so that the allegations are “put on paper” and also to curb the practice.
“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 happened in this sport, which are not very sporting," Brown said. "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 said the pay to complain fee should be “meaningful” to be effective, and, if an allegation is proved true, the money would be returned to the complaining team.
“It needs to be meaningful from a ‘I’m choosing to spend money on that instead of my own racing car’ (point of view). We’re all right at the limit of the budget gap," Brown said. "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.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the Sprint race qualifying session at the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Friday, May 2, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.
The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.
The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.
The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.
The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.
The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.
Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.
The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.
The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.
Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.
Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”
“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.
The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.
It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
