Dr Helmut Marko has given short shrift to F1’s latest conspiracy theory.
Inevitably, after Mark Webber ran out of fuel in qualifying and was sent to the very back of the Shanghai grid, the rumour-mongers connected the dots to the ongoing ’Multi-21’ affair.
Germany’s Bild newspaper summarised the conspiracy theory by saying some fans suspect Red Bull planned the move to "show Webber that he is the number 2".
Another theory could be that Red Bull wanted to cool the on-track drama by clearly separating the warring Webber and Sebastian Vettel on the grid.
Marko insisted: "Nonsense!"
Webber commented: "I can’t be disappointed about my performance."