sport news Christian Horner clings on for now after an Oscar-worthy display of chutzpah in ... trends now
Would she show up? Wouldn't she? Had she turned tail and flown back to Britain? Or would she stick it out in Bahrain to be at the side of her husband amid the deepest distress of their lives?
Nobody had seen much of Christian Horner all race day morning, let alone his wife Geri. He had arrived early in the paddock. He likes the cameras, usually, but he had hidden away in his office at the back of the hospitality area, or perhaps flitted about attending to racing minutiae out of view.
But the eagle-eyed spotted a few Red Bull staffers busying themselves at the back of their sand-coloured concrete HQ for the weekend. By the bins and gates with a chain lock and red netting. It was unlocked an hour and 45 minutes before the season- opening Bahrain Grand Prix was about to begin.
Out slipped Horner. The gates were locked again.
He made his way a few hundred yards to the main entrance, where Geri awaited him. They went through, hand in hand, smiling as they went, travelling the most scrutinised short journey they have ever walked.
Christian Horner initially reported to the Formula One paddock in Bahrain on his own
But he was later joined by his wife Geri in a public display of unity despite his texting scandal
It is perhaps 100 yards. Sub-10 seconds for an international sprinter. But perhaps 10 years for a besieged couple when cameras are pointed at you and the world is asking two things after the sexually suggestive texts Horner allegedly sent to a female employee became public on Thursday, when an email of their contents was distributed to 149 Formula One figures.
The first is - can he hang on to his £8million-a-year job? The second is - can they keep their idyllic marriage on the road?
Geri took off for Bahrain on Thursday by private jet before the anonymous email was sent. Hence the question of whether she would stay around amid the public humiliation, which, according to her associates, prompted 'the meltdown of meltdowns'.
She did remain at his side and her performance (and his) was perfectly choreographed. Oscar standard, in fact.
Horner winked at somebody as he walked in - a friendly, half-defiant, nervous wink - and they climbed the seven steps to a sanctuary of sorts, namely the team terrace, whence he had slipped those few minutes early to greet his wife of nine years.
He put his arm on her back and then they slipped hand in hand again. Job done.
The couple remained by each other's side and their performance was Oscar standard
Horner kissed his wife in full view of the assembled cameras before leaving for the grid
You can call it hollow or bogus, but you cannot say it was not brave. It took chutzpah, too.
She, in a soft cream dress and
