Christian Horner has detailed the assist he obtained from his spouse Geri Halliwell following the ‘intercourse texts’ scandal that led to his departure from the Purple Bull F1 workforce.
The 52-year-old was sacked as chief government and workforce principal in July 2025 after 20 years following an inner energy battle and a decline in kind.
Horner obtained a £67million severance cost, as Every day Mail Sport reported earlier this month, along with his exit coming a yr after he was cleared of misconduct over a texting scandal with a feminine worker.
He has at all times denied the claims and was twice cleared of any wrongdoing in inner investigations at Purple Bull.
A tranche of supposedly intimate textual content exchanges between the pair – together with messages and pictures – have been made public in an explosive e mail despatched to F1 figures earlier than the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Horner’s sacking was unrelated to the scandal however in his upcoming autobiography Drive, he has revealed how his spouse reacted when information of the scandal broke – and predicted his sacking.
The previous Purple Bull boss wrote: ‘What was occurring? The lawyer, presumably conscious {that a} wrecking ball was being aimed toward my life, defined the state of affairs as my sense of bewilderment rose.
Christian Horner has opened up on spouse Geri Halliwell’s assist throughout his ‘intercourse texts’ scandal
Horner was embroiled within the saga in 2024, however he was cleared of any impropriety in two inner investigations and has at all times denied the claims
‘Geri knew by my face that one thing was very mistaken. She fell silent as she listened. We each understood the implications instantly. She checked out me: “Simply inform your reality”, she stated.
‘‘That’s all I can do’, I replied. She reassured me that the whole lot can be all proper. Her resilience was outstanding.’
Horner continued: ‘Our lives had been turned the wrong way up, but she discovered the energy and conviction to assist me via an immensely troublesome interval, one which was undoubtedly difficult for her as nicely.
‘Her perception in me gave me the dedication to maneuver ahead. At a time when my confidence was being examined, Geri supplied the angle and stability that I wanted most.
‘With out her assist, I’m undecided I might have navigated these months in the identical method.’
Horner’s time at Purple Bull noticed the workforce win six constructors’ championships, whereas drivers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen each received 4 titles in a row.
Regardless of that success, issues turned harder after the demise of Purple Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022.
The Austrian had at all times been an enormous supporter of Horner, however the 52-year-old then gave the impression to be repeatedly undermined by Helmut Marko, a key advisor for Purple Bull, and Jos Verstappen, father of Max, because the workforce was plunged into an influence battle, with Horner’s destiny finally sealed in July 2025.
And, in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Horner opened up on his spouse’s backing at the moment and the way she ‘known as’ his sacking.
Horner additionally revealed that his spouse might sense that his sacking was coming in July 2025
‘Nicely she’s delicate to all of this stuff,’ he stated. ‘You recognize, a girl’s instinct and I believe your associate maybe at all times has a bit extra subjectiveness, being in it however barely eliminated.
‘And he or she might see the dynamics have been altering and he or she might see that issues have been totally different for me.
‘And so yeah, she known as it. Clearly it (the sacking) felt fairly brutal on the time however life goes on.’
