Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder and owner of Red Bull and a huge name in motorsport advertising, has died after a long illness.
The Austrian was best known for his long-time stewardship of the energy drinks giant, which he co-founded in the 1980s. He combined that business with his love for motorsport, sponsoring teams across several different series through the decades.
Most notably, in November 2004, his company bought the Jaguar Formula 1 racing team and created Red Bull Racing, now one of the strongest teams on the grid. Red Bull also owned the Toro Rosso team which was rebranded in recent teams as AlphaTauri.
Mateschitz also played a key role in Red Bull's expansion into football. German giants RB Leipzig, Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, MLS franchise the New York Red Bulls and Brazilian outfit Red Bull Bragantino are among the company's portfolio of football clubs.
As the news began to reach the F1 paddock, Red Bull called their staff back to the hospitality area to inform them before it was made public. Sky Sports cameras caught that moment around 45 minutes before the start of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
Both in Styria, now in Austria but at the time part of Nazi Germany in 1944, Mateschitz grew up to graduate with a marketing degree from Vienna University in 1972. He would later put it to great use, after discovering the drink Krating Daeng in Asia which he would later market as Red Bull.
After founding the parent company Red Bull GmbH in 1984, he guided it to become a market leader in the energy drinks world. But he did not stop there, working to make the name become synonymous with the world of extreme sports.
F1 was one of the Austrian's great loves. Red Bull first entered that world as the majority owner of Sauber, but that partnership ended in 2001. But just three years later they were back, with the team that has gone on to become one of the strongest in the sport – currently dominating the 2022 championship with Max Verstappen as their star driver.
It was in April 2005 that he took his first steps into the world of football club ownership. SV Austria Salzburg and US-based club MetroStars were bought, and later renamed Red Bull Salzburg and the New York Red Bulls. Red Bull Brasil followed two years later, before his first investment in African football with Red Bull Ghana.
The investment which turned the most heads was with RB Leipzig. The team, founded in 2009, took over the licence of a fifth-tier German club and had made it to the Bundesliga by 2016.
Mateschitz never married, but does leave behind a son, Marc Gerhardter, who was born in 1992. At the time of his death, Forbes estimated his net worth to be around $20.2bn, making him the 71st richest person in the world.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was very emotional as he paid tribute to Mateschitz in an interview with Sky Sports. "It's very, very sad," he said. "What a great man – he's few of a kind, what he achieved and what he's done for so many people around the world and across different sports is second to none.
"So many of us have to be so grateful to him for the opportunities he has provided, the vision that he had, the strength of character and never being afraid to follow and chase his dreams. That's what he did here in Formula 1, proving that you can make a difference.
"We're just incredibly grateful for him, everything he has done and everything he has supported us with over the years. So many drivers, so many team members, so many people in this pit lane know him so much.
"As he would have wanted, we now head into qualifying exactly how he would have wanted it to be. He was passionate about Formula 1, passionate about the team, and our determination is to go and do our best for him today and in the race tomorrow."
The F1 paddock came together to pay tribute to Mateschitz on social media. The official Formula 1 account posted: "We are saddened to hear of the death of Dietrich Mateschitz The co-founder of Red Bull made an unforgettable contribution to F1, and leaves a lasting legacy."
Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle said: "A wonderful man for motorsport, and obviously he's a man who started really struggling in business, selling toothpaste in Asia where he found this amazing drink, brought it back to Europe and grown it into the mighty business that it is.
"He loved motorsport – went with Gerhard Berger in the beginning, couldn't afford to pay him any money but there was product around and he wore Red Bull on his T-shirt and his race overalls. He's just grown it into the Red Bull Racing Team, AlphaTauri, the race track in Austria and so much more.
"It's everywhere in the world of motorsport. He's been incredible generous and incredibly good to motorsport, and motorsport has been good to the Red Bull brand as well. He's been unwell for some time. He was a very lovely man as well, a very private man... he never wanted to be in the spotlight at all, but wow did he achieve a lot in his life."
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff paid an emotional tribute to his fellow Austrian. "It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of one of the greatest and most visionary entrepreneurs in the world. What Dietrich Mateschitz did for Formula 1 was unprecedented, and we send our deepest condolences to his family and friends."
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said: "I am deeply saddened by the news that Dietrich Mateschitz, a hugely respected and much-loved member of the Formula 1 family has passed away. He was an incredible visionary entrepreneur and a man who helped to transform our sport and created the Red Bull brand that is known all around the world.
"I will miss him greatly, as will the whole community in Formula 1, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams at this very sad time."
