Christian Horner has said wife Geri Halliwell was a "pillar of support" throughout the misconduct investigation that ended his Red Bull career, insisting the marriage was never in jeopardy. The former Red Bull team principal was relieved of his duties in Milton Keynes in July 2025, a little over a year after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague emerged.
Horner on marriage and allegations
Horner, who was accused of sending 'hundreds' of inappropriate texts and photos to the alleged victim, saw his reign in Formula 1 come to a sudden end. Max Verstappen had won four consecutive driver championships leading up to 2024, when the accusations first emerged. Despite the very personal nature of those allegations, of which Horner was later cleared by the team, he maintains Geri stuck with him throughout.
Ahead of the release of his new book, Drive: A Memoir, Horner put his wife of 11 years on a pedestal for her response. When asked by The Guardian whether he felt his marriage was in jeopardy as a result of the misconduct accusations, Horner replied: "My wife was a pillar of support throughout and I just had to believe in the process. I've said enough about it in the book and previously."
Departure and severance
Despite being cleared of wrongdoing after an investigation conducted by an external lawyer, Horner ended up departing 17 months later anyway. He later received a reported £67million severance package as part of his dismissal, around the same time his first wife, Beverley Allen, died following a battle against eye cancer.
The Guardian also probed Horner on whether the allegations that arose in 2024 influenced Red Bull's decision to sack him the following year. Instead, he insisted that decision was based on results: "I'd come through that, dismissed them. So this was more focused on performance and the future."
Results after exit
Horner was fired following the 2025 British Grand Prix, at which point Verstappen was flailing in his title defence behind the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, boasting just two wins and three second-place finishes. Results almost immediately improved once Horner had left, with Verstappen winning six of the last nine races that season to miss out on the championship by just two points. Even Yuki Tsunoda, his driving partner for most of that campaign, showed more promise with four top-10 finishes in the back end of that season.
Horner told The Guardian there are still certain legal barriers in place that prevent him from commenting on the 2024 allegations, or his defence, in more detail. The newspaper also noted there is little mention of specifics regarding this matter in his upcoming book.
Future in F1
This season is the first since 2004 that Red Bull, formerly Jaguar Racing, has competed without Horner's influence, which has recently begun to bear fruit following back-to-back Verstappen wins in Malaysia and Singapore. Horner concedes he may never return to F1 and feels "robbed" he didn't get a chance to win with Red Bull's own independently manufactured Powertrains engine.
He's relaxed over his future and said he could end up back trackside or "sitting on a tractor" before admitting "the only thing that really motivates and excites me is Formula 1."
