Christian Horner – latest: Red Bull boss returns to F1 grid in Bahrain after WhatsApp messages leaked

The team principal, married to Spice Girl member Geri Horner, was cleared of “inappropriate behaviour” on Wednesday after a three-week internal probe conducted by an external lawyer following allegations.

However, just 24 hours later, WhatsApp texts and pictures were leaked from an anonymous source to senior figures in F1 and members of the media.

The Independent has seen the leaked material, a Google Drive with 79 separate documents, but is unable to verify the authenticity of the content at this stage.

Horner responded to the latest development with a short statement on Thursday night: “I won’t 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.

Horner could yet find himself in hot water with the sport’s governing body, the FIA, with Ben Sulayem set to discuss the matter with Domenicali on Friday in Bahrain.

All those who participate in Formula 1 must abide by a set of regulations, with Article 12.2 stating that a competitor could be found in breach of the code for: “Any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers, and more generally on the interest of motorsport and on the values defended by the FIA.”

Lewis Hamilton raised hope of taking the fight to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix after finishing fastest in practice.

The seven-time world champion led a Mercedes one-two under the lights of the Sakhir Circuit, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz fourth.

World champion Verstappen finished sixth, nearly half-a-second back for Red Bull.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is back in the F1 paddock for qualifying ahead of Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Horner’s future is in the spotlight again after hundreds of WhatsApp messages appearing to be written by him to a female colleague were leaked on Thursday.

On Friday, Horner was seen speaking to a Formula One official at the front of Red Bull Racing’s hospitality suite on Friday while F1 and its governing body, the FIA, are considering whether to get involved in the controversy that’s engulfed the sport.

It is understood that neither F1’s American owners Liberty Media, nor its regulator the FIA, has seen Red Bull GmbH’s report into Horner which is thought to stretch to 150 pages – and was said to be “confidential”.

The Independent has seen the material leaked on Thursday evening. It was a Google Drive containing 79 separate documents, but we have been unable to verify the authenticity of the content at this stage.

It is also unclear currently whether the alleged exchanges of texts and images formed part of the investigation or whether it is new evidence.

Christian Horner has been spotted in the paddock for today’s qualifying session at the Bahrain Grand Prix as Red Bull continue forward with their ‘business as usual’ outlook.

FP3 begins at 12.30pm (GMT) and Red Bull will be hoping to see some improvements in their lap times after Max Verstappen finished yesterday’s second practice session in sixth place.

Elsewhere on the grid, Mercedes will want to keep their positions at the top of the leaderboard while Lando Norris will aim for a better run out in his McLaren.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff also responded to the news that Christian Horner has been cleared.

She said: “Red Bull is a huge company, it’s a corporate matter, an investigation, and handled independently or not, you’d assume they took this with the utmost seriousness, and they handled it fairly.

“Because it comes at the risk of this going completely wrong, if it’s found out that that is not the case. I believe they’ve done everything they can.

“What they say, there’s a level of discretion because it involves the private lives of people and that doesn’t need to be exposed to the world. We hope that’s clear now and it will not go further unless it has to. You don’t want this looming over the sport.”

F1 analyst Damon Hill speculated whether there would be questions asked about the process Red Bull undertook before clearing Christian Horner.

“There will be people who say that that is the organisation judging themselves, and not being exposed to other external influence,” said Hill.

“But I think you’re right, they convinced themselves they had to do it. They’re satisfied, their man is intact, but they’re carrying on in the knowledge they’re doing the right thing.”

Sky Sports commentator and F1 legend Martin Brundle gave his reaction to Christian Horner being cleared of any wrongdoing and spoke about the statement Red Bull released before the leak of text messages yesterday.

“That statement from Red Bull is drawing a solid line underneath the whole thing,” Brundle said. “I’ve just read it, but that appears to be their position.

“Red Bull the parent company have drawn a very thick and firm line… they’re clear, they’ve done a deep investigation, they’ve talked for hours and many pages of documents have been generated. Case complete, over.

“I find this a very curious business. We knew no facts whatsoever about this story, lots of echoes, rumours which swirl around and become facts… so you can’t comment. We can only go by that statement. A line drawn underneath it. Let’s see if anything else comes out of it now from third parties.”

On the ramifications of the case on Red Bull going forwards, Brundle added: “I haven’t spoken to Christian at any point through this. Making no comment on what may or may not have happened, mud sticks. It’s been a damaging story for Red Bull, for Formula 1, for Christian.

“The team has momentum, an incredible car and people. I don’t think it’ll have an instant impact. Whether there’s a bit of chaos, a power struggle going on behind the scenes, we’ll have to wait and see.”

What is the race schedule?

• Free practice 3: 12:30pm
• Qualifying: 4pm

How can I watch it online and on TV?

The Bahrain Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and ESPN in the United States.