Geri Halliwell and husband Christian Horner swap the F1 paddock for Cheltenham Festival as they rub shoulders with Sir Alex Ferguson

As the F1 season got underway last week in Australia, ex Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and wife Geri Halliwell swapped the paddock for Cheltenham Festival. 

The couple dressed to impress as they watched the nail biting Gold Cup Day on Friday, which saw Paul Townend make history with his fifth Gold Cup win on Gaelic Warrior.

Christian and Geri, who are proud owners of horse Life Me Up, looked to be enjoying themselves as they watched the races from a balcony before rubbing shoulders with Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson.

The retired football manager, 84, cut a smart figure in a grey three-piece suit as he hugged and chatted away to Geri. 

It seems Sir Alex, who has a number of racing horses and had a huge win last year at the festival, had success once again alongside Geri and Christian as they posed for a photo with two jockeys and the Spice Girl wrote: ‘Legend’. 

Geri, 53, looked incredible in her signature white ensemble, as she slipped into a long coat layered over matching trousers and a jumper. 

The Spice Girl accessorised with a stylish neck scarf and kept comfortable in a pair of chunky grey boots as she held her hands over her face while watching one race. 

Styling her red locks in loose waves, Geri completed her races look with a chic tweed flat cap as she watched the races with Christian, 52, who donned a dapper three-piece tweed green suit. 

Taking to Instagram, Geri shared a series of photos from the day as her and Christian posed outside their horses stable.

It comes weeks after Christian broke the news of his sacking as F1 Red Bull team principal to his wife Geri on the new series of Drive To Survive.  

The long-serving team boss was deposed midway through the 2025 season amid a suspected power struggle at the Thai-Austrian constructor, one year on from his sex texting scandal which set the Formula One world alight. 

Christian eventually left the team in July after receiving an £80million package, but while his departure sent shockwaves through the motorsport community, behind-the-scenes insight has revealed that Geri had an ominous inkling that her husband’s Red Bull days were numbered. 

Footage in the docu-series’ Red Bull-centric episode showed Christian opening up to his wife at the table in their kitchen’s conservatory, with the 52-year-old starting the conversation with a downbeat ‘hey darling’. 

‘All… all done and dusted,’ Christian confirmed as he kissed Geri on the forehead, before sitting down at the table and accepting a waiting latte. 

Christian looked visibly emotional as Geri gave her the scant details of his meeting, before asking: ‘How do you feel?’

‘How do I feel?’ Christian wondered aloud. ‘Um… I never imagined to be in this position. 

‘Of course your immediate reaction when you get delivered a s*** sandwich like that is, like, f*** them. I’ve had something taken away from me that wasn’t my choice, that was very precious to me. 

‘But you thought it was going to happen. We came back from that Austria race and I remember you sat on the bed one night and went “Something really bad’s gonna happen”.’ 

Geri confirmed that she had said that they were going to ‘fire’ her husband. 

Scenes from the episode later showed Christian and Geri watching a race on television – a hitherto unusual way of experiencing raceday for the former team principal, who had held his role since 2005. 

‘You haven’t got any of the data here really!’ Christian complained. ‘Well, normally I would have a whole bunch of noise in my ears. So it’s like you’re blind.’

Geri admitted that she now felt ‘a bit sad watching this’ as her eyes filled with tears. 

Geri was a semi-regular fixture on race weekend alongside her husband, often appearing in the paddock at the start and end of the season as well as at proximate races such as the British Grand Prix. 

When in February 2024, the paddock was stunned by a leaked cache of suggestive messages purporting to be from Christian, Geri flew to Bahrain to take her husband’s side. 

Christian was later accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by a female member of staff, with an internal investigation led by KCs twice clearing him of wrongdoing. Geri supported him throughout.

Back at their Cotswolds home, Geri tried to lift the mood by suggesting that Christian might be trying to ‘eat his feelings’.  

In improved spirits, the pair later horsed around by their swimming pool, with Christian pretending to be on the brink of throwing Geri in, before she admonished him, saying: ‘You’re such a t**t.’ 

The episode also saw Christian explain who he believes is responsible for his sacking, after speculation at the time suggested that star driver Max Verstappen and his father Jos may have played their roles. 

‘His father has never been my biggest fan,’ Christian admitted when asked if it had been the Verstappens who wielded the axe. ‘He’s been outspoken about me. 

‘But I don’t believe the Verstappens were responsible in any way. I think this was a decision that was made by Oliver Mintzlaff with Helmut (Marko) advising from the sideline. 

‘Ultimately things changed within the business, the group, the founder died and after Dietrich [Mateschitz’s] death I was probably deemed to have too much control.’

In the months since his sacking, Christian has eyed a return to the sport, sharing last week that he felt he had ‘unfinished business in the sport’ amid swirling links to rival constructors including Aston Martin. 

‘But I am not going to come back for just anything,’ Christian clarified at the European Motorshow in Dublin. ‘I am only going to come back for something that can win.

‘I don’t want to go back in the paddock unless I have something to do. I miss the sport, I miss the people, I miss the team that I built.’