Geri Halliwell's absence from Australian Grand Prix explained as Christian Horner and Red Bull struggle

The female accuser who accused Horner of inappropriate behaviour has enlisted the help of a former David Cameron ally as the saga rumbles on.

Horner has been continuing to work as normal, with the 50-year-old always denying the allegations against him.

Geri stood by his side in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for the first two races of the new F1 season.

However, the 51-year-old was missing from the action this weekend as Carlos Sainz won and Red Bull struggled.

The Sun reported before the race that Geri never intended to jet out to Australia, however, which is why she wasn't there.

Despite not attending the race, Geri remains '100 per cent behind her husband'.

While she's regularly visited the paddock since marrying Horner in 2015, Geri doesn't always attend each and every race.

She attended just six last term as Red Bull dominated, with Verstappen securing the F1 title for the third year on the trot.

However, the 26-year-old struggled on Sunday and was forced out of the race following a brake fire within the first three laps.

Sergio Perez managed to secure fifth to bring in some points for Red Bull.

But they'll be hoping to fare better in Japan next time out, especially with Sainz and Ferrari starting to close the gap on their rivals.

Verstappen was visibly annoyed after he was forced to retire and could be seen rowing with a Red Bull mechanic, labelling something as 'stupid'.

But Horner has defended the 26-year-old for his antics.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the big event, he said: "Obviously, a driver is going to be frustrated when he gets out of a car from a retirement.

"I think he's been very gracious with the team and all of the mechanics.

"It hurts everybody in the same way. It's a matter of learning from it.

"We've had two years with no mechanical DNFs which has been remarkable.

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"It's a matter of understanding what caused it and learning from it and moving on.

"It's remarkable after three races that he's still leading the championship even with that DNF but, as I say, a lot of lessons to take from today."

Fans at Albert Park cheered following Verstappen's withdrawal.

But the Dutchman joked he couldn't hear their reaction due to his helmet.

"I have a helmet on so I don't hear that!" he said.

"I’m disappointed with not being able to finish the race because I think we would have had a good shot at winning because the balance felt quite nice on the laps to the grid.

"Like I felt confident and a good improvement compared to what I felt in the long runs when we did in practice. But yeah, some things you can’t control.

"Of course, we had a lot of good races in a row, a lot of good reliability and I knew that the day would come that you end up having a retirement and, unfortunately, that day was today.

"We just had already a very good run of two years, right? I mean, that’s already quite impressive.

"But of course, you never like to see it happen. But it’s more important now that we understand why it happened."