Christian Horner latest: Geri appears on F1 grid in support of husband at Bahrain race after leaked messages

Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff spoke alongside Martin Brundle and said: “I echo a lot of Martin’s sentiments and 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.

“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.”

F1 pundit Martin Brundle spoke about Christian Horner’s situation at the Bahrain Grand Prix saying: “Very sad about the whole thing and people getting dragged into this.

“I think it’s indisputable that Formula One is all over the front pages, all over the internet, throughout the world. And it’s not about the racing or who is going to win this Grand Prix.

“I think it’s unquestionable that it’s not good for F1, what’s going on, and I do believe that some actions need to be taken to move this along and to bring this to an absolute conclusion.

“As I said earlier in the week, it feels like the beginning of the story rather than the end of it. But we will have to wait and see. All allegations have been denied.

“It’s just a horrible situation, whichever way you look at it.”

Horner has been cleared to continue as Red Bull team principal following an internal probe into “inappropriate behaviour” towards a female colleague.

“I just read the statement, which was pretty basic,” said Wolff. “My personal opinion is we can’t really look behind the curtain.

“There is a lady in an organisation that has spoken to HR and said there was an issue and it was investigated and yesterday the sport has received the message that it’s all fine, we’ve looked at it.

“I believe with the aspiration as a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency and I wonder what the sport’s position is?

“We’re competitors, we’re a team and we can have our own personal opinions or not. But it’s more like a general reaction or action that we as a sport need to assess, what is right in that situation and what is wrong.

“Are we talking with the right moral approach, with the values based on the speculation that is out there?

“As a sport, we cannot afford to leave things in the vague and in the opaque on critical topics like this, because this is going to catch us out.”

Brudle performed his famous grid walk on Sky Sports at the season-opening race in Bahrain, with Evra one of the first celebrities he encountered.

Wearing a bright pink suit, the Frenchman admitted: “My wife hated it [the suit] but I love it!”

The team principal, married to Spice Girl member Geri Halliwell who arrived in the paddock hand-in-hand with her husband ahead of the race on Saturday, was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” on Wednesday after a three-week internal probe conducted by an external lawyer, following allegations from a female colleague which were strongly refuted by Horner.

Twenty-three days after allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” first emerged through whispers in the Dutch press, and following countless denials on the eve of the new Formula One season, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has finally won the battle of his life.

Touching down in the Middle East on Wednesday night, Horner will be one relieved man stepping off his private jet. A team principal and chief executive who has barely missed a race since taking the reins at the inception of his Red Bull team in 2005, the 50-year-old will take his usual place on the pit wall at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend as a man exonerated.

The statement on Wednesday afternoon from Red Bull GmbH – the parent company, based in Salzburg, of Horner’s Red Bull Racing – was unwavering. It spoke of an investigation, outsourced to an external KC, which was “fair, rigorous and impartial” and a “grievance” which has now been dismissed.

The team principal, married to Spice Girl member Geri Horner who arrived in Bahrain late on Thursday, was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” on Wednesday after a three-week internal probe conducted by an external lawyer, following allegations from a female colleague which were strongly refuted by Horner.

However, just 24 hours later, WhatsApp texts and pictures were leaked from an anonymous source – to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, the sport’s nine other team principals and members of the 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.

It is also unclear currently whether the alleged exchanges formed part of the investigation or whether it is new evidence. The embattled Red Bull boss was present in the F1 paddock in Bahrain on Friday, as his star driver Max Verstappen took pole position for the race on Saturday.

Horner, 50, met with Ben Sulayem and Domenicali on Friday at the Bahrain circuit. It remains to be seen how F1 and the sport’s governing body handle the matter in the next few days, after a saga which has overshadowed the first race of the 2024 season.

A statement from Red Bull confirmed Horner has been cleared of all charges ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend. Horner emphatically denied the claims.

But just 24 hours later, hundreds of messages and a number of images apparently between Horner and the complainant were sent from an anonymous email account to members of the F1 paddock – including FIA president Mohamed ben Sulayem, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and the grid’s nine other team principals, as well as the media – on the eve of this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Bright and early, Christian Horner arrived at the paddock in Bahrain for the first race of this season this afternoon, starting at 3pm (GMT).

Notably, wife Geri Halliwell was not present with him. But reports indicate that the Spice Girl pop star was present on the grid in support of her husband this afternoon.