It was all smiles on Saturday for the couple at the center of the news.
Amid all of the turmoil this week involving alleged sexually suggestive messages to a female employee, Red Bull Racing principal Christian Horner and wife Geri Halliwell shared a tender embrace following the start of the Formula 1 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
After Horner’s star driver, Max Verstappen, cruised to an easy victory, the Red Bull principal and the former Spice Girls member were seen embracing each other.
The two hugged following the victory and were holding hands and smiling down from the track at Bahrain International Circuit.
This all comes after Horner was cleared this week in a workplace misconduct scandal.
But he found himself in controversy soon after a tranche of alleged messages that purported to show him messaging a female team employee was leaked to nearly 200 people, including journalists.
The alleged messages included comments to the employee about Spanx and spreading her legs open.
Horner, on Thursday, denied the allegations against him.
After Saturday’s race, he spoke to Sky Sports, saying the team is “united” off the race track.
“Yes absolutely. We are a very strong team,” he told the outlet. “We have got tremendous support, tremendous partners and great shareholders behind us as well.
Here's everything we know about Christian Horner's sexting scandal
Christian Horner, the team principal of the Red Bull F1 team, is being accused of “inappropriate, controlling behavior” following leaked allegedly salacious messages between him and a female employee.
Horner, who is married to former Spice Girl Gerri Halliwell, allegedly commented to the female employee that it would be good for her to stretch her legs in response to her stating it would be good for him to do so after a long flight, according to reports.
The leak, which was sent to nearly 200 people in a Google document, included nearly 80 images of screenshots with messages to the woman, including: “I keep thinking about Spanx” and “What’s underneath at the moment?”
Horner also allegedly asked the woman for selfies of her in pajamas, and one message referenced what the Daily Mail described as a “solo sex act.”
The employee reportedly asked Horner to stop and attempted to turn the tables by asking him how he would feel if his wife was doing the same thing with an employee, according to reports.
Red Bull Racing cleared Horner of any violations of misconduct following an internal probe.
“I won’t comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations,” Horner said Thursday in a statement.
“You don’t achieve this kind of result by not being united.”
“The perfect start and a very dominant race,” he added. “I have to say a big thank you to all the men and women back at Milton Keynes who have worked so hard over the winter.”
Horner, who kissed and held hands with Halliwell before the F1 race, added that he plans to be at next Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“Yes, absolutely,” he said, per Sky Sports. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
This comes after Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile that governs F1, said the allegations and turmoil have hurt racing.
“It’s damaging the sport,” he told The Financial Times. “This is damaging on a human level.”
