Spice Girl Geri Halliwell stands by her man amid text scandal as she appears hand-in-hand with husband Christian Horner at Bahrain Grand Prix

The couple put on a united front ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix as the Red Bull team principal faces allegations relating to the leak of hundreds of WhatsApp messages which appeared to be written by him to a female colleague.

The messages came on Thursday, 24 hours after Horner was cleared to continue as Red Bull head following an internal probe into “inappropriate behaviour” by the F1 team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH. The 50-year-old has always denied the claims.

Geri arrived at the circuit holding her husband’s hand just under two hours before the race through the main paddock entrance.

The couple were all smiles as they sat together in Red Bull’s hospitality suite.

Geri, who has been married to him since 2015, will be trackside for Saturday afternoon’s race.

The 51-year-old singer has a son, Montague George Hector Horner, with Horner. She also has a daughter, Bluebell Madonna, born in 2006, with former partner and screenwriter Sacha Gervasi.

The WhatsApp messages were sent from an anonymous email account to 149 members of the F1 paddock – including the president of the sport’s governing body Mohammed ben Sulayem, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and the grid’s nine other team principals, as well as members of the media.

Horner continues to operate in his role as team principal and CEO, although it is understood there is considerable unease among the team’s plethora of sponsors and partners.

He spoke only once about the latest allegations as he made his way from Red Bull’s hospitality suite to the team’s garage on Friday. “I am not going to comment on anonymous speculation from unknown sources,” he said. When asked what comes next, Horner replied: “We go racing.”