This rumor doesn't even make sense. Max is going to leave a clearly dominant team to go to the team Lewis jumped ship from because they're not competitive? Ridiculous.
If you took the time between Max and the next closest non-redbull driver and subtracted it from George's final time he would still be in first place by more than a second.
Max can win at Mercedes.
That said this feels like everyone important at Red Bull telling Horner to retire and him refusing. Jos, Marko, Max, and Newey have all refused to stand by Horner publicly. Max is getting more public with his threats.
Edit: Inshould clarify that I meant George would've been in first by more than a second.
No wonder people sometimes say F1 is hard to follow. Are these unaccountable rumour-mongers trying to fuel the scandal for the benefit of Mercedes, or are they trying to make it look like someone else fabricated the scandal for the benefit of Mercedes?