My memories of Didi Mateschitz (obituary)
Just an hour before qualifying for the US GP in Austin, we received the sad news of the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz. He passed away after a serious illness at the age of 78.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner: "He was a great role model and inspiration for all of us. Motorsport owes Didi a great deal. He helped many people here in the paddock." It wasn't just motorsport that was shaped by Red Bull. Many other sports, especially most of the super sports, were under his label. He was not just the richest Austrian, no, he supported many institutions in and outside of sport. Just think of "wings for life", a state-recognized foundation for spinal cord research, which works towards a possible cure for paraplegia.
Mateschitz, who was born in Styria, graduated from a business school in Vienna. After further studies in shipbuilding, he began his marketing career at the age of 28. He worked for "Unilever", "Jacobs Kaffee" and "Blendax". On a trip to Asia, he came across the energy drink manufacturer "Roter Stier", immediately recognized a lucrative line of business and made contact with Chalet Yoovidhya, the producer of "Krating Dang" (Red Bull). This was followed on April 1, 1987 by the market launch of the now world-famous energy drink Red Bull in Europe.
Mateschitz entered motorsport with the two Tyroleans - first with Gerhard Berger, then with Karl Wendlinger - at the beginning of the 1990s and could already be seen with the two bulls on the C14 Sauber racing car. Peter Sauber: "He was a wonderful person who you could rely on. And that was not a given in this business." It was in 1995 that he and Dr. Marko decided to enter Formula 1. Red Bull was the main sponsor of the Swiss team for ten years. Peter Sauber: "Such support was of course a stroke of luck for us as a small team." It was only the desire to have their own Red Bull team that caused the Sauber marriage to break up. Mateschitz took over the then ailing Jaguar team and has since landed six world championship titles (four with Vettel and now two with Verstappen).
Two of the absolute top athletes from the Red Bull camp honored Didi yesterday for his support with magnificent victories. Olympic and overall World Cup winner Marco Odermatt took the Red Bull logo on his helmet to the top of the podium at the first giant slalom of the season in Sölden, and Max Verstappen brought the Red Bull car to the finish line ahead of everyone else at the US GP, thereby also securing the constructors' title for Didi's team.
I myself was one of Didi's small circle of colleagues and feel honored to have known this interesting person personally. My first meeting with him was in the winter of 1994/95 in Peter Sauber's office at the first contract signing. Later, unfortunately, he visited the Grand Prix far too rarely. But when he was there, there were always short but unforgettable coffee breaks with him. Thank you Didi!
