Though Lando Norris warned of consequences following the Singapore clash, Zak Brown is unable, or unwilling, to explain exactly what they might be.

With the Briton having told the media on Thursday that an internal team enquiry had found him responsible for the first lap clash with his teammate and that there would be "repercussions", it is understandable that his boss would be asked exactly what this might entail.

Instead, Brown delivered a word salad most politicians would be proud of.

"You know, we set out at the beginning of the year how we want to race and how we want to race each other," the American, ever the salesman, explained. "The 'Papaya Rules', which everyone likes to talk about, is pretty much one rule: don't touch each other and don't run each other off the track. So it's quite simple, and it's kind of taken on a bit of a life of its own.

"We just want to make sure that while they're racing hard, they don't come together," he continued. "That puts them at risk, puts the team at risk. So we agreed with them in the off-season how we would handle certain situations.

"It was a pretty minor incident," he said of the Singapore clash, "the start of a Grand Prix, it's pretty chaotic, it was a damp track, so it clearly wasn't intentional. And so, we work through different consequences for different situations. It was a pretty minor situation, so it's a pretty minor consequence."

Asked, quite understandably, what he meant by consequence, he replied: "We don't want to get into that. I think, you know, that's private business between us. I know everyone's interested to know, but both drivers are in a great place. We just want to set them up to continue to be able to race each other hard.

"It's not easy having two number one drivers. Toto's done it before, and I think Laurent will - he's fresh in his role. But, you know, we want to have both drivers competing for the championship, and with that comes challenges that are more difficult than if you had a one and two driver, which we've seen over the years. We're racers. We like to see them race, but we don't like to see them touch each other."

It was pointed out that previously that morning Brown had told Sky Sports that the consequence was likely to be something that wouldn't be noticed. Consequently, if it was not negligible, why not be open and transparent, words the American has often used in the past, usually when referring to the likes of Red Bull and Christian Horner. Indeed, it was pointed out to Brown that the use of the word 'repercussions' opened a Pandora's box of speculation.

"We're racing against nine other teams," said Brown. "I don't think you want to necessarily show your hand on how you go motor racing. So we try and be as transparent as possible, but there's a reason why engineering debriefs are only with teams - otherwise you start inviting other teams in. So I think that's the best we can do.

"We try and be as transparent as possible in saying that some action has been taken," he insisted, "so I think that's been very transparent. But at the end of the day, we're at a sporting event, and we can't necessarily tell everyone everything - no different than our set-up sheets aren't very public."

Asked outright the aim of the consequences, the American said: "We just want the drivers to race hard and not touch each other. Kind of as simple as that."

In all honesty, much like Norris' claim that the Papaya Rules don't really exist, one cannot help but feel the same about the consequences and repercussions he talked of.

Interestingly however, at one point, after Brown had finished speaking, Toto Wolff rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, the age-old gesture for money. If true, and the consequences refer to a fine, this will have little impact on a multi-millionaire racing driver about to get a whole lot richer courtesy of a world championship title.

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