Geri Halliwell has been pictured for the first time in Bahrain after flying from Britain to stand alongside her under-fire husband Christian Horner amid the Red Bull director’s ongoing texting scandal.
Red Bull confirmed on Saturday that Halliwell will be on the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix in solidarity with Horner, after a series of WhatsApp messages and photos he allegedly sent to a female employee were leaked.
Horner, who cut a lonely figure on Saturday morning as he took to the Bahrain International Circuit, was cleared by Red Bull of ‘coercive behavior towards a female colleague’ ahead of the premiere of the 2024 season. Red Bull launched an internal investigation into the accusations.
The flirtatious messages allegedly exchanged between Horner and the female complainant were leaked to 149 F1 figures while Halliwell was on a plane to see her husband ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Halliwell, who married the Red Bull team boss in 2015, had a “meltdown” when she landed in the Gulf state on a private jet on Thursday and discovered the bombshell messages plastered all over social media.
The former Spice Girl arrived hand in hand with the Red Bull team boss ahead of the Grand Prix
Geri Halliwell (left) is on the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix after flying from Britain to have ‘crisis talks’ with her husband Christian Horner (right)
Under-fire Red Bull director Horner arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit for the opening race of the 2024 season and cut an isolated figure as he turned up alone
Throughout the investigation and since the reports were leaked, Horner has denied any wrongdoing and was present when the team began the defense of their three consecutive world titles in qualifying on Friday, with Max Verstappen sealing pole position.
The world champion was 0.228 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second place, while Mercedes’ George Russell finished third and his teammate Lewis Hamilton had to settle for ninth.
Both Red Bull and Ferrari shared the lead throughout the three qualifying rounds, with Red Bull just undoing the Italian racing team at the end of Q3, with Leclerc finishing second and George Russell finishing strongly to finish third, 0.306 seconds behind Verstappen.
The Dutchman insisted on Saturday morning that he and the rest of the Red Bull team were ‘fully focused’ on the Bahrain Grand Prix and claimed the controversy surrounding the team boss is ‘none of our business’.
Ahead of her flight to the Gulf Kingdom, friends of Halliwell say they are ‘deeply concerned’ for her and that she appeared ‘vulnerable’. A friend suggested that the texting scandal has “called their marriage into question for the first time.”
But Halliwell’s confirmed presence at the Bahrain Grand Prix signals a public show of solidarity with Horner, who has consistently stressed his focus is on racing and getting Red Bull’s world title defense off to a perfect start.
Mail Sport reported on Friday that Halliwell plans to line up alongside Horner on the pre-race grid, alongside his key ally on the Red Bull board, Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya, who owns 51 percent of the energy drinks company .
An insider told Mail Sport ahead of the GP: ‘She (Halliwell) left before the email arrived. I don’t know if she will be at the race, but if she is, it will be chaos.
‘It would be crazy. She might even fly home.”
Horner’s future with the organization still remains under threat, despite Red Bull clearing him of wrongdoing earlier this week.
Red Bull launched the investigation into Horner, pictured next to Halliwell in Monaco, on February 5
Horner took his position in the Red Bull paddock as usual on Friday, while Max Verstappen (left) secured pole position for Saturday’s race, but also left the pit wall for talks with the FIA
Horner and Halliwell in a holiday photo taken on an unknown beach at Christmas
The former Spice Girl cuts a cheerful and relaxed figure on the Silverstone grid in July 2023
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, sport CEO Stefano Domenicali and F1 team principals including Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and McLaren’s Zak Brown, as well as journalists, were among the recipients of the email which contained 79 screenshots of messages and photos that were allegedly sent by Horner. .
Ben Sulayem admitted that the controversy surrounding Red Bull team boss ‘damages the sport’.
The FIA and F1’s owners, Liberty Media, were weighing their response to the evidence now in the public domain.
It is not certain whether the messages were presented to the Red Bull-led investigation, but it is believed this was likely the case.
Now, however, Horner is open to a public trial, while the most intense pressure on his role could come as the team’s sponsors potentially withdraw their support.
Horner, who left the pit wall on Friday to hold crucial talks with the FIA, insisted he would not comment on ‘anonymous speculation’ and insisted he has ‘always denied the allegations’.
On the day of the leaked WhatsApp messages, Horner’s rival team leaders added to the storm, calling on the FIA and Formula 1 to scrutinize Red Bull’s decision.
“I have just read the statement (relating to Wednesday’s decision, following a process that Red Bull GmbH described as ‘fair, rigorous and impartial’), it was quite simple,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.
‘My personal opinion is that we can’t really see behind the scenes. There’s a lady in an organization who spoke to HR and said there was a problem. It has been investigated and yesterday the sport got the message that it is all good, we have looked into it.
‘I believe that as we strive to be a global sport, on such crucial topics, there needs to be more transparency and I wonder what the position of the sport is?’
McLaren CEO Zak Brown added: ‘It is ultimately the responsibility of the Formula 1 organisers, the owners of Formula 1, to ensure that all racing teams, their staff, the drivers and everyone else involved in the sport operating in a way that we all live in.”
