Geri Halliwell appears on F1 grid alongside husband Christian Horner after leaked messages scandal
Former Spice Girls singer arrived at Paddock holding hands with her husband
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Former Spice Girls singer Geri Halliwell was seen standing in solidarity alongside her husband Christian Horner after he was cleared of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague.
Halliwell arrived in Bahrain to be with her husband, the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner during the International Circuit in Sakhir on Saturday (2 March) for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing’s parent company Red Bull GmbH announced on 5 February that Horner was under investigation following the claim, but on Wednesday (28 February) the 50-year-old was cleared of wrongdoing.
An internal probe by the F1 team’s parent company, Red Bull, dismissed the allegation.
Red Bull GmbH said it was confident the investigation had been “fair, rigorous and impartial”, but added that the report – understood to stretch to 150 pages – is “confidential”. Horner emphatically denied the claim throughout the probe.
Hundreds of WhatsApp messages which appeared to be written by him to a female colleague were leaked before the weekend.
Halliwell, 51, who was nicknamed Ginger Spice during her time in the pop group, stood united alongside her husband at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The pair held helds as they arrived on the Paddock and were seen smiling and chatting together in a private moment.
The pair have been married since 2015 and they share a son Montague George Hector.
She also has a daughter, Bluebell Madonna, born in 2006, with former partner and screenwriter Sacha Gervasi.
A source told The Sun this week that the former Spice Girl was “relieved” that her husband was cleared of the allegations.
A source told the publication: “This has been weeks of hell for Christian and his family.
“Geri has been rock solid behind Christian – and his whole family is relieved and elated that it’s over. Those feelings are there but no one close to Christian feels like celebrating much after what he’s been through.
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“For the time being his focus is back fully on winning races.”
Meanwhile, Naomi Schiff, a former W Series driver and regular on Sky’s F1 coverage, has said she is “saddened” by the current saga surrounding Christian Horner, which has “cast a shadow” over the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“I think coming into the first race of the season where there has been so much excitement around it, it’s really a shame this is casting a shadow over the weekend,” she said, prior to qualifying in Bahrain on Friday.
“But at the end of the day, we have to remember it’s an internal, corporate investigation. We don’t have all the information. So we leave it at that.
“At the end of the day it’s also a human story and there is some sadness to all of this. There are people who are going to be affected by this. This matter should not have been dealt with in the way it has been dealt with.”
Schiff’s colleague at Sky, Martin Brundle, also called for the situation to be brought to an “absolute conclusion”.
Less than 24 hours after Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing, WhatsApp texts and pictures – some of a sexually suggestive nature – were leaked by an anonymous source to promiment members of the sport world and its media, allegedly showing conversations between Horner and the complainant.
The Independent has seen the leaked material, a Google Drive with 79 separate documents, but is unable to verify the authenticity of the content.
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