Geri Halliwell has landed in Bahrain on a private jet to meet Christian Horner – having taken off before the ‘leaked texts’ email – as the Red Bull chief was hauled in for crisis talks with F1 bosses.
Mail Sport understands the former Spice Girl left the UK yesterday before the delivery of an incendiary email that claims to expose flirtatious WhatsApp exchanges between her husband and a female employee.
She touched down in the Middle East last night and is said to have gone ‘into meltdown’ over the messages.
Horner, 50, was cleared to continue as Red Bull team principal on Wednesday following an internal probe into claims of ‘coercive behaviour’, which he has always denied.
But just 24 hours later, texts apparently exchanged between him and the complainant were sent from an anonymous email to 149 F1 figures – leading friends to warn that his marriage to Geri was ‘in question for the first time’.
Halliwell, who flew over for the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix tomorrow, has not yet been seen in the paddock.
As it stands, Geri is planning to be at Saturday’s grand prix in a public show of solidarity. The plan is that she will be at Horner’s side on the pre-race grid, alongside his major ally on the Red Bull board, Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya, who owns 51 per cent of the energy drinks company.
Christian Horner pictured today ahead of a practice session at the Bahrain International Circuit
Horner and Geri Halliwell at the Larkhill Royal Artillery Point to Point
The Red Bull boss – seen today – is at the centre of a deepening scandal after text messages allegedly exchanged between him and a female employee were leaked
Horner vowed to fight on within hours of the scandal deepening, and is now preparing for tomorrow’s Bahrain GP
One insider told Mail Sport: ‘She took off before the email landed. I don’t know whether she will be at the race but it will be mayhem if she is.
‘It would be nuts. She may even be flying home.’
As she arrived, her husband has pulled from the pit wall into a meeting with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The couple had breathed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday when Red Bull cleared Horner of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour allegations following a probe into his alleged relationship with the employee.
But on Thursday, a series of WhatsApp texts and photographs were released to dozens of journalists and key figures in sport, throwing the scandal back into the public into the spotlight once again.
Horner vowed to fight on within hours of the scandal deepening, and was today pictured in his Red Bull gear ahead of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which begins tomorrow.
It comes as friends close to Halliwell, who stood by her husband of nine years resolutely throughout the internal probe, revealed she is ‘having the meltdown to end all meltdowns over the leaks’.
The mother-of-two has been left ‘feeling humiliated’ after the messages were spread ‘so widely out there’, a friend added.
Hundreds of intimate WhatsApp exchanges purportedly between Horner and the colleague were released via an anonymous email account.
Horner was only cleared by Red Bull’s Salzburg-based parent company – and told he could stay on as team principal of the world-championship on a £8million-a-year-salary – 24 hours before the texts dropped.
Halliwell had told friends that she was ‘relieved and elated’ that the claims against her partner, with whom she shares seven-year-old son Monty, had finally been dropped.
Friends of the Spice Girl told the Mail she thought the scandal had ‘finally gone away’ but have warned the appearance of the intimate messages – to which there are 79 screenshots – could ‘destroy’ her.
One said: ‘All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.’
Another said he now fears for how the star, who has been left mortified at the embarrassing fall out, will be able to comprehend such a public humiliation.
Friends close to the Spice Girl said she is ‘having the meltdown to all meltdowns over the leaks’
Geri Halliwell is said to be ‘highly unlikely’ to fly out and join her husband – who she is seen marrying in 2015
Horner and Halliwell in a holiday photograph taken on an unidentified beach over Christmas
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell pose after the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo di Monza on September 7, 2014
The couple tied the knot at a star-studded ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Woburn in 2015
Miss Halliwell threw her husband Horner a surprise 50th birthday party in December last year
He said: ‘Geri has been living in this happy, happy bubble for so many years now, she thought she had her prince and her knight in shining armour but now this.
‘She thought that it had all gone away, she was delighted and over the moon when she learned Christian had been cleared.
‘Geri was pilloried when she got together with Christian because he had just had another baby with another woman but she has worked hard to rid that image of herself and Christian, and in particular that she is a homewrecker.
‘Now it has all come crashing down. The tears stopped when the judgment came in on Wednesday, now they absolutely will have started again.
‘This will destroy her. All along Christian promised there was nothing in it.’
One source close to the star said that she ‘wasn’t sure what to believe’ throughout the saga but was determined to get through it with their marriage unscathed.
‘Geri is no fish wife but she finally got the man she wanted and she won’t want to let him go. This could end up being a big dilemma for her,’ the source said.
The tranche of messages were sent to FIA president Mohammad Ben Sulayem and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali. All the team principals were copied in, along with star driver Max Verstappen’s father Jos.
Earlier this month Halliwell had briefly unfollowed world champion Verstappen on Instagram after the allegations against Horner first came to light. Sources close to the star said last night that this was an ’emotional reaction’ which she thought would go unnoticed.
Reigning world champion Verstappen was quizzed ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday over whether Red Bull’s probe into Horner had impacted or altered the team’s preparations for the season.
The Dutchman, insisting that his focus has not been altered, replied: ‘It doesn’t. I’m very focused on just the performance of the car and myself.
‘Hopefully it will be resolved very soon. It’s a whole team effort that everyone has to stick together and work to more success, so that’s why it’s important to get everything resolved very soon.
‘(Horner) is very important otherwise he wouldn’t have been in that position for such a long time.’
The intense spotlight on Horner in recent weeks had already started to take a strain on the couple’s home life – which they split between their farmhouse, and stables, in Oxfordshire and a home in North London.
A source close to the pair said last night the last few weeks had been ‘hell for Christian and his family’ and he had always branded the claims as being ‘nuts’.
‘Geri is devastated and has been struggling to eat and sleep. Her family and fellow Spice Girls are worried about her,’ the source said last week ahead of Horner being cleared.
‘I hear Christian is trying to pep her up to stay positive, but she has gone to ground in the way she did after she left the Spice Girls. She’s not speaking to anyone.’
Shortly after the leak yesterday, Horner released a statement which read: ‘I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate I have always denied the allegations.
‘I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and fully cooperated with it every step of the way.
‘It was a thorough and fair investigation conducted by an independent specialist barrister, and it has concluded dismissing the complaint made. I remain fully focused on the start of the season.’
The messages come a day after Horner was told he would be cleared of a Red Bull probe into his behaviour
The Spice Girls star said she is ‘really grateful’ to have Christian Horner as her ‘best friend’
Horner and Halliwell meet then-Prince Charles at a Prince’s Trust event in London in 2019
Announcing its conclusion on Wednesday, the company said: ‘The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed.
The complainant has a right of appeal. Red Bull is confident that the investigation has been fair, rigorous and impartial. ‘
Horner, who has won 13 world championships since heading the team as a 31-year-old in 2005, had previously thanked his ‘very supportive wife’ for her backing during the accusations.
Halliwell and Horner mixed in social circles before they struck up a romance, having first met each other at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009.
‘[Geri] was a guest of [former CEO of the Formula One Group] Bernie Ecclestone’s in Monaco one year and came down the pit lane,’ Horner previously told The Telegraph. ‘I remember [McLaren boss] Ron Dennis was standing next to me and Eddie Jordan was there as well.
‘She gave Ron a kiss on the cheek, and she gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek. So I thought, ‘OK, I’m on for a kiss on the cheek here!’ And I went to give her one and she shoved her hand out at me.’
Their relationship, however, got off to a rocky start, coming under fire after the Red Bull chief left his long-term partner Beverley Allen six months after she gave birth to their daughter Olivia.
While the couple took a short break to see if Horner could rescue his relationship with the mother of his child, just nine months later he announced his engagement to Ginger Spice in an in the The Times in 2014.
Christian Horner, pictured with Prince Harry before the Texas Grand Prix in October last year
Ginger Spice and Horner are pictured at the World Premiere of ‘The Moonwalkers’ last December
Christian and Geri’s relationship came under fire after the Formula One boss left his long-term partner Beverley Allen (pictured) six months after the birth of their daughter, Olivia
Halliwell and Horner attend the Gala Dinner for the F1 Grand Prix Of Monaco on May 28, 2023
It said: ‘The engagement is announced between Christian, son of Mr and Mrs G.M. Horner and Geraldine, daughter of the late Mr L.F. Halliwell and Mrs A Parkinson.’
The former Spice Girl and Red Bull boss tied the knot at St Mary’s Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire, in 2015.
Halliwell’s A-line lace bridal gown was designed by British designer Phillipa Lepley.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Bluebell, whom she had with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi in 2005, also attended the wedding.
Guests included Geri’s former Spice Girls co-star Emma Bunton, radio presenter and singer Myleene Klass, and TV presenter Amanda Holden.
Christian’s parents were reportedly left devastated when the sporting professional left Ms Allen to be with the chart-topping star and therefore chose not to see the duo tie the knot.
A source close to the couple previously said: ‘Geri and Christian are disappointed that his parents aren’t coming.’
Horner has won 13 world championships since heading the team as a 31-year-old in 2005. He was then the youngest team principal on the grid, yet is now its longest-serving.