Christian Horner has been criticised by a former F1 driver for what has been described as a PR 'farce' with his wife Geri Halliwell at last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.
Horner and Halliwell put on a united front in Bahrain but Christijan Albers has labelled what he saw as 'absolute nonsense'.
Red Bull team principal Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing last Wednesday after an independent investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague.
The 50-year-old always denied the accusations against him and continued in his duties ahead of the new F1 season starting in Bahrain.
Christian Horner has been slammed for a PR 'farce' with wife Geri Halliwell
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However, the saga took a fresh twist last Thursday when alleged photographs and messages purporting to be evidence in the investigation were leaked to journalists and key figures in the sport.
The anonymous email address also sent the file to other F1 team principals but Horner has distanced himself from the leak.
Former Spice Girl Halliwell, who married Horner in 2015, flew into Bahrain last week and made a public appearance with her husband at the race on Saturday.
The pair were seen holding hands as they made their entrance and were later pictured kissing in the Red Bull paddock.
It was a clear sign from the pair that they were standing firm together amid the ongoing situation with Horner.
But former driver Albers was having none of it, saying on De Telegraaf's F1 podcast: "What kind of farce is that?
"It's always very easy to say something about that, it is for me too. It's easy to undercut someone.
"Only, let's be honest, that PR guy, or what he himself came up with to walk onto the paddock with Geri, is of course just absolute nonsense.
"That's just a farce, and I would never have done that myself."
Albers admitted that it is a 'difficult story', claiming he has been forwarded some information from journalists.
He added: "It's quite a bit of a difficult story. I take that from everything I've been forwarded, from all the journalists who got material.
"It is difficult to interfere with that, because you never really know what exactly happened."
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Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner put on a united front at the Bahrain Grand Prix
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Horner has faced demands to resign from his role by Jos Verstappen, father of Red Bull's three-time world champion driver Max.
But the long-serving team principal is determined to continue and thanked Halliwell for her support in recent weeks.
Horner said: "My focus is on this team, my family, my wife and going racing.
"I have the support of an incredible family, of an incredible wife, of an incredible team and everybody within that team and my focus is on going racing and winning races and doing the best that I can.
Christian Horner and Geri Halliwell were pictured together on several occasions on Saturday
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"Obviously it’s not been pleasant. The unwanted attention, but the focus is now very much on the cars.
"My focus has very much been on what’s going on on track and the result today I think demonstrates where the whole team’s focus is and we move onwards."
