Red Bull founder and co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz dies at 78
Red Bull founder and owner Dietrich Mateschitz has died at the age of 78.
Mateschitz was an influential Austrian businessman who founded the energy drink company and then took it into Formula 1 with great success, winning four consecutive double world titles between 2010 and 2013.
His passing, which comes after a battle with a long illness, was confirmed just before qualifying at the United States GP, with a somber Red Bull team apparently breaking the news together in the paddock.
“It’s very, very sad,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. “What a great man.
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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner pays his respects to Dietrich Mateschitz.
“We’re incredibly grateful for him and everything he’s done, everything he’s supported us over the years and so many drivers, so many team members, so many people in this pitlane owe him so much.
“It’s important that we celebrate and recognize the contribution he has made. Quite a remarkable man, an inspiration and one to whom we owe a great deal.”
Max Verstappen, after qualifying third, added: “It’s been tough news, I think, for everyone.
“What it has meant for Red Bull but also for the sport and especially what it has done for me in terms of my career so far and in general my life.”
Mateschitz, after discovering an energy drink on a trip to Thailand, launched the Red Bull brand in 1984 and made it a global market leader before bringing success to the sports world in the 21st century.
Red Bull entered Formula 1 with Sauber before buying the Jaguar team in 2004 and renaming it Red Bull Racing. He then bought Minardi a year later, which became a junior Red Bull team at Toro Rosso, and is now called AlphaTauri.
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Martin Brundle, Simon Lazenby and Danica Patrick pay their respects to Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
Mateschitz also acquired football clubs in particular, with the Austrian team Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bull (USA) and RB Leipzig (Germany) bought by Red Bull.
Red Bull has been successful in all formats, particularly F1.
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Max Verstappen paid tribute to Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who has passed away at the age of 78.
The team claimed its first victory in 2009 and its first titles a year later, when Sebastian Vettel claimed the drivers’ crown and Red Bull won the constructors’ title.
Red Bull secured clean sweeps of the next three championships and has remained one of F1’s best teams ever since. Max Verstappen ended a drought of drivers’ crowns in 2021 and reclaimed it again this season, with the team likely to clinch the constructors’ title at this weekend’s US GP.
Mateschitz with Red Bull driver and now two-time world champion Max Verstappen
“He is one of a kind,” added Horner. “What he accomplished and what he has done for so many people, in different sports, is second to none.
“Many of us have to be very grateful to him for the opportunities he has given us, for the vision he had, the strength of character and never being afraid to follow your dreams and go after your dreams.
“That’s what he did here in Formula 1, showing that you can make a difference.”
Tributes flood Mateschitz
“It’s really sad news,” said Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle. “He was a wonderful man for motorsports. He loved motorsports.
He’s been incredibly generous and incredibly good to motorsports and motorsports has also been good to the Red Bull brand.
“He was a very charming man, a very private man as well.
“He never wanted to be the center of attention, he always wanted to be behind the scenes, but wow, he has achieved a lot in his life.”
Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali said: “I am deeply saddened by the news that Dietrich Mateschitz, a much-respected and much-loved member of the Formula 1 family, has passed away.
“He was an incredibly visionary entrepreneur and a man who helped transform our sport and created the Red Bull brand that is known around the world.
“He will be greatly missed, as will the entire Formula 1 community, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams at this very sad time.”
Explaining the great impact of Mateschitz on the sport
Sky Sports News reporter Craig Slater
“F1 was very close to his heart. He took close, hands-on contact [approach]although you didn’t see him often in the Formula 1 paddock.
“There were rumors about his failing health for several weeks and it’s sad that it’s confirmed now that he’s passed away. You absolutely struggle to put the contribution he made to Formula 1 over the last decade and a half into correct terminology.”
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Craig Slater looks at the contribution and impact of Red Bull Formula 1 co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who has passed away at the age of 78.
“We could talk about his wider sporting contribution, a huge impact on European and North American football, New York Red Bull, RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, the ice hockey teams as well. I visited Red Bull Salzburg a few years ago and there was the same attention to detail in terms of bringing in young talent and looking after them properly, very evident in that football team as well as their F1 operation.Amazing academy,linked up with local schools to make sure everyone who passed over there they had a good education as well as an opportunity in sports as well.
Mateschitz with Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner
“An interesting individual on a personal level, a private man. He had that adventurous, slightly eccentric billionaire feel about his personality. He had a lot of interests.”
“It put the Red Bull racing team on a firm footing. They are financially self-sufficient. I think they will continue and be able to maintain the level of success they have had even now that the owner has passed away.”
“Sometimes there is anxiety about an individual ‘making sport their plaything’. We hear a lot about that. In the case of Dietrich Mateschitz, that couldn’t be further from the truth or the reality that he has brought to sport.
“He has been a benefactor who has thought very carefully about what he is doing in each project that he has started, he has allowed it to have a foundation that will allow it to continue even after the direct financial contributions that he has made do not continue.
“I think he is a very benign force in European and world sport. He will be sorely missed at Red Bull.”
