The person who founded Red Bull and turned an energy drinks company into a Formula 1 powerhouse, Dietrich Mateschitz has passed away, aged 78.
The Red Bull co-founder and owner had been battling a lengthy illness and is survived by long term partner Marion Feichtner and son Mark Gerhardter.
The Austrian businessman founded Red Bull in 1984 and was a massive driver behind its motorsport success.
Red Bull entered the F1 world in 1995 with Sauber, where its logos were a prominent feature on the team’s cars until 2004.
In November 2004, Mateschitz took over the Jaguar Racing Team from former owners Ford and created Red Bull Racing, while he joined forces with Gehard Berger to form the sister team Toro Rosso after purchasing Minardi a year later.
Sebastian Vettel scored both teams first wins in Italy 2008 (Toro Rosso) and China 2009 (Red Bull) which started of the brand’s rise to the top of the motorsport world.
With the help of drivers such as Vettel, Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Red Bull has won 89 races and six of the last 13 drivers championships.
Red Bull has also been a major part of Australian motorsport, with the brand being a major sponsor of Triple Eight Race Engineering, while Mateschitz also brought Austria’s A1 Ring and brought F1 back to the track after an 11-year absence.
Red Bull announced the news just minutes before its drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez rolled out for Qualifying in the United States Grand Prix.
