Mercedes slams Red Bull's tyre conspiracy theory

Toto Wolff has slammed Dr Helmut Marko for suggesting that Pirelli changed the tyres at the request of the German team, as Wolff has said that Markos is "seeing ghosts".

Marko told Bild earlier that he genuinely thinks that Mercedes had a say in the tyres that Pirelli produced.

“The tyres were changed at the request of Mercedes," he said.

“When you’re a team and a manufacturer at the same time, you can do that.

Toto Wolff responded in an emphatic way, clearly a bit annoyed with Marko's blame game. He argues that the tyres were changed for the good of the sport, rather than just for Mercedes.

“It’s not the first time the doctor sees ghosts,” he countered.

“There were problems with blistering on the tyres in the winter tests, even at Red Bull.

"The rears looked like a volcanic landscape, so Pirelli improved them.

“It’s bad for business if tyres explode."