To me it's sounding more like this is stuff that's been bubbling away for some time in one form or another (certainly Horner's the sort of person who enjoys aggravating others, especially when he thinks he's gotten away with something) and is starting to escape the cracks. The attempts to brush it off as "nothing" or nonsense like "sabotage" makes me think there's potential for it to be worse then we think.

It's bad either way. If there's substance to the story then I feel for the victim and also feel that it would be hugely disappointing behaviour from the alleged perpetrator. Or it's indeed murkier and a way to lever out (or reduce the influence and power of) the man in big part responsible for the team's monumental success. If so, would it make any sense? Because what would they be left with?

@baasbas, I get @Mog's point and picked up the same on first reading. It could be 'same as always' excellent relationship or 'same as always' we tolerate each other. I'm not it matters though and also suspect any rift, if one existed, would probably pre-date the current allegations. TBH I'm lost about the whole thing, until this investigation story broke, I'd assumed everything was smooth running at Red Bull (leaving aside Marko's Pérez comments last season and the well-known tension between the latter and the Verstappen clan).

@Mog
Not trying to be pedantic here, but since you're the one who started to go in to semantics…
Isn't it irrelevant what 'same as always' actually entails? He's responding to the alleged rift. A rift assumes a before and an after situation, otherwise you can't speak of a rift. Claiming it is the 'same as always' inherently denies a rift. Doesn't matter if their relationship was good or bad before, he claims it is the same now. So even bad before and bad now means no rift. He could be lying of course, but that is not what you implied with 'wiggle room'.

As Perez said, it's important to pull together. A team like this doesn't exist forever and it's not always easy to understand exactly what makes it so great. It's not just Newey and not just Max. A lot of people who are enjoying winning and work very hard to do it. A lot has been said of Perez too. As far as I'm concerned, he's a legend who's given the team a lot. I hope that is appreciated and he can continue to be a lifetime ambassador for the team well into the future if he wants.

and after the news cycle is over nobody will say anything…

but, nobody cares what Max thinks, its Jos and Marko whom are under speculation. Dont forget Austria and Porsche. Mediocrity is creeping on RBR.

If there's ever an accusation of any kind there's no need to have an opinion on it. It's best to be patient and wait until everyone has had their due process. So much of F1 "news" is just gossip and speculation. It's not always possible, but an ideal resolution to conflict can be if everyone is satisfied to shake hands and resolve it so that they can work well together. If such a thing happens it may never be known what happened. Since it's not my business I don't care.