Geri Halliwell was photographed for the first time in Bahrain after flying from the UK to support her under-fire husband Christian Horner in the Red Bull director's ongoing text messaging scandal.
Red Bull confirmed on Saturday that Halliwell will be at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix to show solidarity with Horner after a tranche of WhatsApp messages and photos he allegedly sent to a female employee were leaked.
Horner, who cut a lonely figure at the Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday morning, was cleared of “coercive behavior towards a colleague” by Red Bull ahead of the start of the 2024 season. Red Bull launched an internal investigation into the allegations on February 5th.
The flirtatious messages allegedly exchanged between Horner and the complainant were leaked to 149 Formula One drivers while Halliwell flew to meet her husband ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Halliwell, who married the Red Bull team boss in 2015, suffered a “meltdown” when she landed in the Gulf state on a private jet on Thursday and found the bombshell messages plastered all over social media.
The former Spice Girl arrived hand in hand with the Red Bull team boss before the Grand Prix
In the picture, Halliwell and Horner could be seen on their way to Red Bull's operations base at the race track
The couple appeared to be in good spirits and put on a united front after days of unwanted headlines
Halliwell welcomed the members of the Red Bull team to the paddock before the Grand Prix
Throughout the investigation and since the news leaked, Horner has denied any wrongdoing and was present as the team began defending its three consecutive world titles in qualifying on Friday, with Max Verstappen securing pole position.
The world champion was 0.228 seconds faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second place, while Mercedes' George Russell was third and his teammate Lewis Hamilton had to settle for ninth.
Both Red Bull and Ferrari shared the lead through the three qualifying rounds, with Red Bull only eliminating the Italian outfit at the end of the third quarter, with Leclerc second and George Russell third with a strong finish, 0.306 seconds behind Verstappen.
The Dutchman insisted on Saturday morning that he and the rest of the Red Bull team were “totally focused” on the Bahrain Grand Prix, claiming that the team boss controversy “is none of our business.”
Ahead of her flight to the Gulf Kingdom, friends of Halliwell said they were “deeply concerned” for her and that she appeared “fragile.” A friend suggested that the text message scandal had put their marriage “in question for the first time”.
But Halliwell's confirmed presence at the Bahrain Grand Prix shows a public show of solidarity with Horner, who has insisted all along that his focus is on racing and the perfect start to Red Bull's world title defense.
Mail Sport reported on Friday that Halliwell wants to be at Horner's side ahead of the race, along with his key ally on the Red Bull board, Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya, who owns 51 percent of the energy drink company.
An insider told Mail Sport ahead of the GP: “You [Halliwell] started before the email landed. I don't know if she will enter the race, but if she does there will be chaos.
“It would be crazy. Maybe she'll even fly home.”
Horner's future with the organization remains in jeopardy despite Red Bull clearing him of wrongdoing earlier this week.
Halliwell looked significantly different than expected after it was reported that she “went into meltdown” when she landed in the Gulf state
Geri Halliwell (left) will be racing at the Bahrain Grand Prix after traveling from Britain to hold “crisis talks” with her husband Christian Horner (right).
Horner took his usual position in the Red Bull paddock on Friday as 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 over Christmas
Recipients of the email, which contained 79 screenshots of messages and photos allegedly sent by Horner, included FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, sporting director Stefano Domenicali and F1 team bosses including Mercedes' Toto Wolff and McLaren's Zak Brown, as well as journalists .
Ben Sulayem admitted the Red Bull team boss controversy is “damaging the sport”.
The FIA and Formula 1 owner Liberty Media considered their response to the evidence now publicly available.
It is not certain whether the messages were presented to the Red Bull-led investigation, but it is believed that they probably were.
But now Horner faces a public trial, while the greatest pressure on his role may come from the team's sponsors potentially withdrawing their support.
Horner, who left the pit wall on Friday to hold important talks with the FIA, urged not to comment on “anonymous speculation” and stressed that he had “always denied the allegations”.
On the day of the leaked WhatsApp messages, Horner's rival team bosses stepped up the storm and called on the FIA and Formula 1 to review Red Bull's decision.
“I just read the explanation (referring to Wednesday's decision, after a process that Red Bull GmbH described as 'fair, rigorous and impartial'), it was pretty simple,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
“My personal opinion is that we can't really see behind the scenes. There is a lady in an organization who spoke to HR and said there was a problem. It was investigated and yesterday the sport received the message that everything was fine, we looked at it.
“I think with the claim of being a global sport on such critical issues, it needs more transparency and I wonder where the sport stands on this?”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown added: “It is ultimately the responsibility of the organizers of Formula 1, the owners of Formula 1, to ensure that all racing teams, their staff, the drivers and everyone else involved in the sport function properly.” in which we all live.'