Geri Halliwell will be on the grid at the Bahrain Grand Prix in solidarity with her under-fire husband Christian Horner after text messages and photos allegedly sent by the Red Bull chief to a female employee were leaked.
Red Bull confirmed to Mail Sport on Saturday that the former Spice Girl will line up alongside her husband on the grid after flying in from Britain on a private jet on Thursday evening.
Horner, who cut a lonely figure as he took to the Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday morning, was cleared of wrongdoing by Red Bull ahead of the 2024 season after the Formula 1 team launched an investigation into allegations of ‘coercive behavior towards a female colleague’.
Flirty WhatsApp messages apparently exchanged between Horner and the female complainant were leaked to 149 F1 figures while Halliwell was on the run 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.
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
Friends of Halliwell (pictured at Wimbledon in 2019) say they are ‘deeply concerned’ for the former Spice Girl and that she looked ‘vulnerable’ when they saw her several weeks ago
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 back-to-back world titles in qualifying on Friday, with Max Verstappen sealing pole position.
Friends of Halliwell say they are ‘deeply concerned’ for her and that she looked ‘vulnerable’ several weeks ago. 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 show of solidarity with Horner, who has consistently stressed his focus is on racing and wants to get Red Bull’s world title defense off to a perfect start.
His future with the organization still remains under threat, despite Red Bull clearing him of wrongdoing earlier this week.
Spice Girl Halliwell and Horner are pictured on their wedding day in Woburn on May 15, 2015
Horner and wife – Spice Girl Geri Halliwell – posing after the 2014 F1 Italian Grand Prix
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. .
The 50-year-old, 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’.
More to follow.
