Team Horner vs The Red Bull Rebels: Inside both sides of the divide splitting F1's world champions, with wife Geri Halliwell in with the embattled boss - who faces advisors he tried to oust

The controversy surrounding Red Bull principal Christian Horner has exposed deep divisions within a team outsiders would be forgiven for believing was not just the gold standard in Formula One, but perhaps in global sport. 

This group, made up of thousands of individuals, had produced the most dominant season in F1 history, winning all but one of the 23 races on the calendar, spearheaded by a ruthless star driver with an insatiable hunger accompanied by a team boss who is respected but still splits opinion.

Red Bull have been tipped to continue their dominance this season - Max Verstappen won the opening Grand Prix of the campaign in Bahrain at the weekend - but the allegations against Horner, 50, which preceded bombshell leaks and infighting, cast serious doubt on the outfit beyond 2024.

The battle lines have been drawn and the impact on the team and Horner's future remains unknown.

But who is on which side? Here, Mail Sport takes a look at the divide threatening one of sport's most successful teams. 

Team Horner 

Geri Halliwell

The former Spice Girl strode into the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend, hand-in-hand with her embattled husband, in a defiant display of support. The couple, who have been married since 2015, were all smiles as they made their way into the Red Bull paddock ahead of Saturday's race, with Halliwell's appearance coming amid reports of her angst at the situation. 

The public display of affection has not silenced conversation on their relationship. The 51-year-old is said to have 'read her husband the riot act' before putting on that show of unity. But it has confirmed that Horner, with whom she shares a seven-year-old son Monty, will retain a very close and important ally. 

Halliwell and Horner mixed in social circles before they struck up a romance, having first met each other at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009.

'[Geri] was a guest of [former CEO of the Formula One Group] Bernie Ecclestone's in Monaco one year and came down the pit lane,' Horner previously told The Telegraph. 'I remember [McLaren boss] Ron Dennis was standing next to me and Eddie Jordan was there as well.

'She gave Ron a kiss on the cheek, and she gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek. So I thought, 'OK, I'm on for a kiss on the cheek here!' And I went to give her one and she shoved her hand out at me.'

Their relationship, however, got off to a rocky start, coming under fire after the Red Bull chief left his long-term partner Beverley Allen six months after she gave birth to their daughter Olivia.

While the couple took a short break to see if Horner could rescue his relationship with the mother of his child, just nine months later he announced his engagement to Ginger Spice in an advertisement in the The Times in 2014.

The former Spice Girl and Red Bull boss tied the knot at St Mary's Church in Woburn, Bedfordshire. Horner's parents were reportedly left devastated when the sporting professional left Ms Allen to be with the chart-topping star and therefore chose not to see the duo tie the knot.

The intense spotlight on Horner in recent weeks has taken a strain on the couple's home life, which they split between their farmhouse, and stables, in Oxfordshire and a home in North London. 

After the Red Bull chief was cleared, his messages to a female colleague, many of them of a sexual nature, were leaked. But she is standing by her man - for now at least.

Chalerm Yoovidhya

Horner was notably flanked by his two greatest supporters on Saturday evening as he looked up at the champagne shower which followed podium celebrations of Red Bull's one-two at the opening Grand Prix of the season. 

On one side was his wife and on the other stood Red Bull's majority shareholder. 

Chalerm Yoovidhya, who owns a 51 per cent stake in the parent company, is the eldest son of the late Thai billionaire Chaleo Yoovidhya, who co-founded the company in 1984.

According to Forbes, the 73-year-old and his family have an estimated net worth in the region of £26billion ($33.4bn) and he remains a key ally of the embattled team boss. 

His protection is believed to have been crucial in ensuring that Horner has remained in his post for even this long, with reports that key figures were ready to oust him when the recent complaint came to light. 

RED BULL Rebels 

Jos Verstappen

It was reported on Monday that Horner had not received an invite to Jos Verstappen's birthday celebrations in Dubai. The two were then spotted in a heated exchange last Friday.

The father of the team's star man has become the most vocal opponent of Horner in recent days. He exclusively told Mail Sport that should Horner remain in post, 'the team is in danger of being torn apart. It can't go on the way it is. It will explode.'

Then those revelatory images of the pair engaged in fierce confrontation after qualifying on Friday night came to light. 

According to his affiliates, Horner believes Verstappen Snr has orchestrated a campaign to unseat him for the past few weeks, the implication being that the Dutchman may even have had a hand in the email leak. Verstappen Snr denies having any role in the leak.

Horner was cleared of misconduct following an independent investigation called by the team's parent company Red Bull GmbH last Wednesday but less than 24 hours later, an anonymously emailed leak of 79 documents appearing to show Horner sending sexually suggestive messages to the female employee at the centre of the investigation circulated amongst the sport's key figures.

It may come as a surprise to many that Verstappen Snr has been so vocal or even that his voice could hold so much sway. A former Formula One driver, and team-mate of Michael Schumacher, Jos endured a middling career eight-years in length. 

But he birthed, and sternly shaped, a generational driver, who is his trump card potentially above even the Teflon Horner. The 52-year-old will not attend the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, meaning an interlude to public eyes on their all out war. 

Max’s views are not explicitly known. He is believed to be in general support of his father’s stance. Tellingly, he refused on four occasions in press conferences over the past weekend to offer Horner unconditional backing.

He merely explained that he thought that in performance terms, his boss did an outstanding job. 

Oliver Mintzlaff

Prior to the death of co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, Oliver Mintzlaff's presence at a football match would have been more expected than at any race on the F1 schedule. 

The German stepped down from his position as CEO of RB Leipzig in November 2022 and took up the role he has today, overseeing sports and media at the Red Bull group. 

This promotion brought him into direct contact with Horner, who, as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing is his subordinate, though due to the financial independence of the division of the company, he retains a high level of autonomy. 

Mintzlaff is said to have resented Horner's powerbase when he ascended to his role less than two years ago. The tragedy of Mateschitz's death shook up the management structure, leaving executives jostling for position.

The Austrian billionaire held a powerful 49 per cent of the parent company and the development of its sporting division, particularly in F1, was a passion.

Horner had been handpicked to launch the team in 2005 on the recommendation of their mutual friend and former Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone. The former Formula 3000 boss represented a big gamble for his Austrian paymaster, but the success Horner's appointment has brought the team in the form of seven driver's championships and six constructor wins did not go unrecognised.

Mateschitz had a matchless role as CEO - an ultimate veto power when it came to these sort of divisions. One word from the former owner, and speculation would have disappeared.

But in the wake of his death, the lack of lightly autocratic decision-making at the top of the organisation has opened up a power struggle between the two owners of the company. Mark, Mateschitz's son, has no such veto power. Nor does he have the majority of the shares in Red Bull GmbH. 

He is believed to have a cooler view on loyalty to the team principal and is thought to have even wanted Horner dispatched 'quickly' - before the verdict of the investigation was confirmed - but the protection he was granted by Yoovidhya made doing so all the more difficult,

Minztlaff is also reportedly keen to centralise power in Austria, alongside the company's other sporting brands. This thinking is in turn said to be backed by a man thought to be back by Dr Helmut Marko. 

Dr Helmut Marko

A notable attendee of Jos Verstappen's birthday bash was Dr Helmut Marko, who enjoys close ties to the family - and his role at Red Bull could yet define whether Verstappen Jnr stays or leaves the team where he has made his name.

Marko - Red Bull GmbH's motorsport adviser - is not employed by Red Bull Racing, but last season saw Horner held responsible for moves to sideline him at both Red Bull and sister team RB (then AlphaTauri).

Verstappen Jnr advocated for Marko's eventual contract extension, which will keep the 80-year-old in his position until at least 2026.

But should Marko, who enjoyed a short but successful racing career himself, take his leave from the team, the driver could yet make a shock move across the grid.

The three-time world champion is thought to have a break clause in his £50million-a-year contract which is linked to whether Marko has a role at the constructor.

His father was seen in conversation with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff in Bahrain over the weekend, sparking speculation that Verstappen Jnr could take up the seat vacated by outgoing driver Lewis Hamilton in 2025.

Marko was one of the stakeholders to comment following the email leak last week, admitting that he was shocked by the revelation. 

'I'm flabbergasted and surprised that the documents were leaked. I've never seen them myself,' Marko told Bild via motorsport-total.

Adrian Newey

The quietest of all the characters, Adrian Newey's impact on Red Bull Racing and the sport at large is difficult to overstate. He is the greatest designer in F1 history, responsible for conjuring a host of iconic cars, including the devastating RB19. 

His cars have won 13 world titles, more than 100 races, including 22 out of 23 last year. Like Marko, it is believed that he would be happy to see a change in the team's hotseat. 

Tensions between the pair became public last year when Horner claimed that Red Bull were not as reliant on the 65-year-old as they once were and hailing technical director Pierre Wache in the process. 

The Chief Technical Officer's wife Amanda took to social media to hit out at those claims, writing: 'what a load of hogwash', having previously described the suggestion from a user that the RB19 was not an Adrian Newey championship-winning car as 'absolute b****cks'.

Ex-Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher waded into the  situation on Tuesday and told Sky Germany that Newey 'will not put up with this unrest in the long term'.

'That speaks volumes,' he added when it was suggested that Horner, Marko and Newey cut a less than united image in Bahrain. 'We can't look into their heads. 

'But the problem definitely needs to be clarified. It's still an ordeal, it's not over yet.'