Revealed: How Geri Halliwell 'went silent and told husband Christian Horner "just tell your truth"' when his sex texts scandal story broke - before predicting his £67m Red Bull sacking

Christian Horner has opened up on the support of wife Geri Halliwell during his 'sex texts' scandal and how she predicted his exit from Red Bull.

Horner, 52, was dismissed as CEO and Team Principal in July 2025 after 20 years in the role following an internal power struggle and a decline in form.

He received a £67million severance payment, as Daily Mail Sport reported earlier this month, with his exit coming a year after he was cleared of misconduct amid a texting scandal with a female employee. 

Horner has always denied the claims and was twice cleared of any impropriety in internal investigations at Red Bull, despite a tranche of supposedly intimate text exchanges between the pair – including messages and photographs – being made public in an explosive email sent to F1 figures before the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. 

His sacking was unrelated to that, but in his new autobiography Drive, Horner has revealed how his wife reacted when the story of the scandal broke.  

Horner wrote: 'What was going on? The lawyer, presumably aware that a wrecking ball was being aimed at my life, explained the situation as my sense of bewilderment rose.

'Geri knew by my face that something was very wrong. She fell silent as she listened. We both understood the implications immediately. She looked at me: "Just tell your truth", she said.

'‘That’s all I can do’, I replied. She reassured me that everything would be all right. Her resilience was remarkable.'

Horner continued: 'Our lives had been turned upside down, yet she found the strength and conviction to support me through an immensely difficult period, one that was undoubtedly challenging for her as well.

'Her belief in me gave me the determination to move forward. At a time when my confidence was being tested, Geri provided the perspective and stability that I needed most.

'Without her support, I’m not sure I could have navigated those months in the same way.'

During Horner's time at Red Bull, the constructor won six championships, while Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen both won four world titles in a row. 

Despite that success, things became more difficult after the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022.

Mateschitz had always been a big supporter of Horner, but the 52-year-old then appeared to be regularly undermined by Helmut Marko, a key consultant for Red Bull, and Jos Verstappen, father of Max, amid a power struggle at the team, with Horner's fate eventually sealed in July 2025.

And, in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Horner opened up on Halliwell's backing at that time and how she could sense change was afoot at the team. 

'Well she's sensitive to all of these things,' he said. 'You know, a woman's intuition and I think your partner perhaps always has a bit more subjectiveness, being in it but slightly removed.

'And she could see the dynamics were changing and she could see that things were different for me. 

'And so yeah, she called it. Obviously it (the sacking) felt pretty brutal at the time but life goes on.'