I have the support of an incredible family... and an incredible wife
Texts storm Horner praises Geri
It’s been a very testing time for my family
Formula one’s Christian Horner insisted he still has the support of his wife Geri after his alleged blitz of flirty texts to another woman.
Spice Girl Geri, 51, dramatically stood by her husband over the weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where they walked hand in hand and shared a kiss.
The build-up to the new F1 season was overshadowed by the leak of hundreds of Whatsapp texts that appeared to be sent by the red Bull team principal, 50, to a colleague.
He has refused to confirm if the messages are genuine but said his family have faced a “very testing” time.
An emotional Horner added: “I have the support of an incredible family, an incredible wife, an incredible team and everybody within that team. My focus
is on this team, my family, my wife and racing.” The texts came on Thursday, 24 hours after Horner was cleared in an internal probe into “inappropriate behaviour” by parent firm red Bull Gmbh. He has denied the claims.
He added: “It’s been very testing for my family but we are very strong as a family and our focus is on this race.”
Horner was speaking after red Bull driver Max Verstappen raced to victory ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Before Saturday’s race, Horner slipped out of the back of red Bull’s hospitality suite to meet Geri as she arrived at the paddock.
The pair made a point of holding hands while being mobbed by photographers and TV crews.
Horner gave Geri a kiss as he left for the race grid and they later hugged following red Bull’s victory. Verstappen’s father Jos later said that the messages storm is “driving people apart”, as he denied being the source of the controversial leaks.
Calling for Horner to go, the former F1 driver, 51, added: “It cannot continue this way. The situation is not good for the team. He is playing
g the victim, when he is the one causing the problems.”
Asked why there had been a leak, Horner said: “I’m not going to comment on what motives whatever person may have for doing this.”
The texts were sent from an email account to 149 members of the F1 paddock, including Mohammed ben Sulayem, head of the sport’s governing body, and members of the media.
While Horner remains as team principal it is understood there is unease among red Bull sponsors and partners.
He and Geri married in 2015 and share six-year-old son Montague. Geri also had daughter Bluebell, 17, with ex Sacha Gervasi and is stepmum to Horner’s daughter olivia, 10.