Geri Halliwell, F1 chief Christian Horner and his pregnant wife

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Red Bull team chief Christian Horner seen walking arm in arm with Halliwell
He cast aside partner Beverley Allen, who had his daughter six months ago
Geri has only been seeing him for months but has followed him for years
They were seen at same F1 events as early as 2009 with Bernie Ecclestone
A friend of Horner's said she had followed him for 'a few years'

PUBLISHED: 19:02 EST, 29 March 2014 | UPDATED: 10:13 EST, 30 March 2014

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Relaxed: Geri Halliwell and Christian Horner enjoy a springtime stroll together

Walking arm-in-arm down a London street, Geri Halliwell and Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner look every inch the happy couple. Rumours of a relationship have surrounded the pair for some weeks, but it is only now they seem ready to declare themselves ‘an item’.

But behind this happy picture lies a very upsetting domestic drama. For the head of the Red Bull team and heir to Bernie Ecclestone’s throne has cast aside his long-term partner, Beverley Allen, who only gave birth to his daughter, Olivia, six months ago, in favour of the former Spice Girl.

And while the couple have only been seeing each other for a matter of months, The Mail on Sunday has learnt the pop star has been keen to strike up a friendship with Horner for years – as these pictures show. In 2009, Geri attended the Monaco Grand Prix and was pictured on the arm of Bernie Ecclestone with Horner hovering in the background.

Ginger Spice, 41, is nothing if not determined and two years later she was in Monaco again. This time she had one arm flung around the flamboyant former team owner and BBC commentator Eddie Jordan and the other clasping the back of a clearly nervous Horner. Leaning away, with at least a foot between them, his expression is something between a smile and a grimace.

But what a difference another two years and a sense of purpose makes. At the 2013 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the couple are virtually holding hands. Geri smiles straight into the camera while a much slimmer Horner seems happy and relaxed. Perhaps worryingly, Beverley was six months pregnant with their daughter at the time.

It’s not clear how the relationship between Formula 1’s best-loved couple descended into difficulties at what should have been a time of such joy. But sources says Geri had clearly set her sights on the talented and successful sporting boss. Last night, a friend of Horner’s said she had been following him 'for a few years’.

Yesterday, Beverley, a former pub landlady, was closeted behind the gates of the couple’s sprawling Oxfordshire mansion where in happier times the couple kept chickens, ducks, dogs and miniature ponies.

History: Geri Halliwell poses with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2009 - as Horner looks on in the background

The 46-year-old, who must surely be devastated at being supplanted by Geri, refused to comment. The couple have now separated. One crew member who saw Geri and Horner together at the British Grand Prix last summer said: ‘It was really weird. Geri just sort of appeared – I mean appeared everywhere.

'So after the race, Christian was giving an interview and she just wandered into the shot. She wasn’t supposed to be there and no one was expecting her, but then she was given a microphone and just sort of gatecrashed the interview.’

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According to those who know him, Horner is charming, polite and unfailingly calm – despite being the boss of a 650-strong workforce and in charge of one of the most high-profile racing teams in the world.

One colleague said: ‘He’s always well mannered, very nice. He doesn’t swagger around, although Beverley’s a bit more aware of her position.

‘Red Bull always have parties after the race and she’s been known to tell people off for carrying a Coke in the Red Bull area. You often see him just sitting quietly in a corner. He seems older than he is.’

Horner raced in Formula 3000, the series one rung below Formula 1 before taking over Red Bull in 2005 aged just 31. Under his stewardship, the Milton Keynes-based team has enjoyed a spectacular rise, winning virtually every title going in the past four years.

More recent: A crew member claimed the way the former Spice Girl (centre) 'wandered into shot' was 'really weird'. Also pictured are Horner, right, and BBC F1 commentator Eddie Jordan (left)

Once asked about the key to his success, Horner said: ‘I never struggle for motivation. Motivation is something that burns within. I think winning becomes addictive.

‘It’s the fear of failure that drives all of us at Red Bull. Formula 1 is such a competitive business that you can’t afford to miss a beat. I’m still relatively young and there’s still an awful lot I want to achieve.’

If he does inherit Ecclestone’s empire, Horner’s power will extend far beyond the sporting arena. One commentator said: ‘You’ve got to understand how much influence Grand Prix has.

‘Bernie is the man that shakes Putin’s hand and says yes, we’ll bring a race to Sochi. Politicians, Arab princes, the world’s richest businessmen, they all flock to Formula 1.’

Before the split: Horner with Beverley in 2012

The high-octane world of motor-racing is no doubt one that appeals to Geri, who experienced global fame with the Spice Girls in the 1990s but has never enjoyed the same success since. One friend explained: ‘It’s as though she can’t really accept the Spice Girls days are behind her. She’s pretty self-obsessed.

'She talks about herself in the third person and still thinks she’s super-famous. She was in the South of France with a friend of mine and as they were getting on the yacht, she clicked her fingers at one of the guests and said, “Get rid of that man, I can’t have paparazzi around.’’

‘Apart from the fact he was a guest, not some minion, and she shouldn’t have been speaking to him like that, it wasn’t a paparazzo. It was a tourist taking a picture of one of the superyachts.’

Geri has now been telling friends that ‘Christian’s the one,’ although she is notoriously unlucky in love, once admitting: ‘I think we all know that relationships haven’t been one of my strong points.’

Previous boyfriends have included Chris Evans, Russell Brand and Robbie Williams, who became exasperated by her demands and once said, rather ungallantly: ‘She turned into a demonic little girl playing with dolls and a tea set. She started speaking like a psychotic child and developed this possessed look. It was genuinely scaring me.’

Geri was once engaged to the Italian shipping tycoon Fabrizio Politi and had brief relationships with coffee entrepreneur Bobby Hashemi and screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, father of her seven-year-old daughter Bluebell.

The friend said: ‘The problem with Geri is that she’s sweet but she’s incredibly intense. Everything has got to have a meaning. She reads a lot of self-help books such as The Secret and Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway. And she’s always on some mad diet or health kick, which is fine but she expects everyone else around her to do it too.

‘The only time she’s not so ‘‘mad’’ is when she’s around her daughter. She is an absolutely devoted mother. And I know she wanted a sibling for Bluebell. She was with her last boyfriend, Henry Beckwith [cousin of Tamara Beckwith] for about three years and when he finished it she was absolutely devastated.’

F1 fan: Geri Halliwell pictured again with Horner last June at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

Geri and Horner apparently split for a short while last December while he attempted to rescue his relationship with the mother of his only child. Geri was said to be devastated. But the couple are now back together again and were recently spotted going for a walk with Bluebell near Geri’s London home.

It must undoubtedly be a difficult time for the Formula 1 figure. He had been with Beverley for 14 years. Six years his senior, she had been by his side throughout his astonishing ascent while he acted as a stepfather to her two sons from a previous relationship, Kieron, now 25 and Liam, 21.

Beverley gave birth to Horner’s child last October, at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, while he was away at the Japanese Grand Prix. He later explained he had hoped to fly home in time but Beverley went into labour earlier than expected.

He told reporters at the time: ‘Olivia arrived about 3.30am Tokyo time. We went out for some karaoke on Wednesday and wetted the baby’s head. Fatherhood will probably be my biggest challenge.’

Although that was before he began dating Geri Halliwell.

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eu_out_now, London, United Kingdom, 6 hours ago

He cast aside partner Beverley Allen, who had his daughter six months ago. It's blokes like you who give decent men a bad name. Shame on you! (male comment)