Christian Horner has once again denied rumours that there is an ongoing feud between himself and Helmut Marko atop the Red Bull hierarchy - pinning the blame on the media for concocting stories there is 'nothing to'.
In October, Brazilian sources stirred speculation by suggesting that Horner might have been involved in a purported attempt to remove 80-year-old Marko, who has been advising the reigning world champions since 2005.
Now, Horner has again affirmed that there is no rift between him and his longstanding colleague and that the reports are entirely false.
Horner: Feud reports are wide of the mark
He says that mistranslations and mischievous attempts at stirring trouble within the F1 media are to blame for the rumours.
“Something like that you have to take with a great deal of humour because, I mean, they’re so far wide of the mark,” he told PlanetF1.
“But, unfortunately, the world that we live in, somebody writes something on an obscure Brazilian website and, by the time it is translated into four different languages, it suddenly becomes… it takes a traction of its own and, quite often, there’s absolutely nothing to these stories.
“Helmut and I have known each other for 27 years. We’ve always had a very strong and open relationship. So, on that, nothing has changed. The thing about the relationship is that you don’t have a relationship through the media.”
Addressing the rumours himself in October, Marko similarly denied any rift between the pair.
Speaking to OE24, he said: "Contrary to many assumptions I have to disappoint the, as they say, doomsayers.
"There is no summit. I have a contract until the end of next year. When and how I stop, when it's over, I decide and not, for example, Mr. Horner.”