Portugal Colonial - Under-fire Horner set to appear at Red Bull's car launch

Horner is set to attend the Formula One champions' launch event at their Milton Keynes base despite the accusation by a female colleague which surfaced at the beginning of last week.

The 50-year-old, married to former Spice Girls pop star Geri Halliwell, categorically denies the claim that he behaved in an inappropriate and controlling way.

He was quizzed on Friday by a lawyer for eight hours as part of a probe by Red Bull Racing's parent company Red Bull GmBH that could last for several weeks.

A spokesperson for Red Bull GmBH said earlier this week: "After being made aware of certain recent allegations, the company launched an independent investigation."

Horner, who has a son with Halliwell following their wedding in 2015, was present at a behind-closed-doors Red Bull test at Silverstone on Tuesday ahead of the new season, which starts in Bahrain on March 2.

Red Bull will unveil their new car on Thursday and Horner is expected to address the media, although questions relating to the internal investigation are likely to be off-limits.

Horner has been Red Bull team principal since they entered F1 19 years ago and the Briton is the longest-serving boss on the grid.

During that period he has overseen seven drivers' world championships and six constructors' titles.

Red Bull have dominated the sport in recent seasons and last year won 21 of the 22 races, with Max Verstappen setting a new record of 10 consecutive victories.

R.Veloso--PC