Speaking on ABC Sport’s podcast, the Australian brushed it off as “the greatest load of nonsense of all time.”

He then added: “Every single season we come across this b******t. It’s either Mark Webber against Sebastian Vettel. It’s always: “He’s got a better car than me”, or “He’s getting preferential treatment.”

“I can assure you that both these cars are getting the same sort of treatment. And I know Zak Brown very well. He’s a good racer. He’ll be giving both these blokes equal chances.”

Jones went on to stress that the theory has no basis whatsoever, insisting both drivers are free to race with identical equipment and equal opportunities.

“If it was tennis, I swear to god they’d be saying they were giving the bloke the wrong racket or something. It’s just rubbish. And then you get all the rear experts coming out of the woodwork giving their opinions on this, that and the other and half of them wouldn’t know one end of the car from the other. But they’re free to give their advice whether it’s needed or not - it’s just nonsense.”

The opening stages of the Interlagos weekend hinted at flashes of the strong, combative Piastri we’d seen for much of the season, with the Australian able to match Norris’s pace — and at times even run ahead of him.

However, the Melbourne native admitted that McLaren’s pace dropped off from Friday to Saturday, and that the car shifted in a direction that didn’t really suit his driving style.