Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton was hit by a ERS issue similar to the one he suffered at the previous round in Shanghai, which prevented him from taking part in the final phase of qualifying and forced him to line up 10th on the Sochi grid.

Although he managed to recover to second, Hamilton’s charge was hampered when his W07 picked up a water leak in the second half of the race.

The Briton was quick to dismiss the sabotage claims made by his fans on social media, but he also made a couple of bizarre comments regarding what had happened (or actually not happened) following the Chinese Grand Prix.

“There are things which we’re trying to understand and I’ve asked to be informed of what’s going on, process or whatever.” Hamilton said. “For example, after the last race [in China], I didn’t get an email of the report so I didn’t actually know about that and when I got [in Russia] they said ‘we should have emailed you’.

“Next week I’ll get all the information, and if it’s not sent to me, I’ll make sure I’ll get it. Just because I want to be a part of the process, and there’s a lot of input I can have, and help. Ultimately we’re a team. We win and we lose together, so it’s about us pulling together.”

Not sure Hamilton’s puzzling remarks will help appease conspiracy theorists, whom Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff called “lunatics” who are “lying in their bed with their laptop on their chest and sending out those abusive messages out” in the aftermath of the Sochi race.