Earlier this week, the UK celebrated Mother’s Day and Christian Horner took this opportunity to appreciate and thank his wife Geri Halliwell, and his mother. In pursuit of that effort, he made a post on Instagram with some heartwarming pictures and a touching message. However, the Red Bull boss left the comments open, and a section of F1 fans pounced on the opportunity to troll him over the ongoing controversy.
Horner wrote, “Happy Mother’s Day – So appreciative of the mums in our family for everything they do. We’re always grateful, today and every day.”
The comment section was filled with responses urging the Red Bull boss to turn the comments off. Most other responses praised Geri. However, there was a large section that took a dig at the ongoing crisis at Red Bull involving him.
One user, insinuating the post was a PR stunt, wrote, “My brother, you keep digging a bigger hole for yourself.”
Another referred to the alleged infamous leaked chats: “Hope you had your favorite breakfast this morning fella”. Another user took a dig at Horner with another reference to the leaked chats: “Not what you were saying in the WhatsApp messages”.
Amid the ongoing saga, Horner’s wife and former Spice Girl, Geri, has shown unbridled support for her husband. Halliwell walked hand in hand with Horner in the Bahrain paddock and stood by him during the podium celebrations. She made a solo walk in the recently concluded Saudi Arabian GP paddock but once again stood by Horner during the podium celebrations.
How the Christian Horner controversy snowballed into a civil war at Red Bull
After an independent investigation, Red Bull GmbH, the parent company, “dismissed the grievance“ against Christian Horner. However, the controversy took a turn when star driver Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, openly called for the team boss’ ouster. The 52-year-old Dutchman went to the extent of blaming Horner for getting Red Bull to a stage where it was at risk of “exploding”.
The comment came in response to Horner’s claim that the team was now more united than ever. Jos’ comments may not have gone down well with the team either. Red Bull too, through its official spokesperson (as per Sports Illustrated), reiterated, “There are no issues here. The team are united and we are focused on racing.”
The ground reality, however, seems far from these claims. Helmut Marko, who is reportedly a part of the Verstappen camp, is facing a suspension for the upcoming Australian GP. The Austrian is alleged to have leaked the WhatsApp chats between Horner and the female employee who made the allegations against him.
As rumors of Marko’s exit began to make rounds of the internet, Max Verstappen cleared his stance. The reigning champion expressed his willingness to exit if Marko decided to leave Red Bull. Amidst the blazing fire, Toto Wolff has expressed his desire to bring Marko to Mercedes. Is it an attempt to lure Verstappen to replace exit-bound Lewis Hamilton? Time will tell.
