Red Bull Racing has been very successful, with five world championships in the last 12 years. That’s mostly thanks to Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. This is mainly due to Dietrich Mateschitz, who owned the team from 2004 until his death in October 2022.
Mateschitz’s thirst for adventure and adrenaline was well-established and also propelled the careers of a number of NASCAR drivers. In everything from car racing to Super Bowl predictions, Mateschitz ultimately became an intrinsic part of it all.
Mateschitz created Red Bull, the well-known energy drink that can now be bought almost everywhere. He invented it when he came across Krating Daeng, an energy drink in Asia that first became available in 1975.
Growing Wings
Red Bull subsequently became a resounding success in terms of product sales and business. Mateschitz founded it in 1984 together with Chaleo Yoovidhya, the developer of Krating Daeng, and the rest is history.
The energy drink was first marketed in Austria, but later in Europe and the whole world. It turned out to be a major source of income for Mateschitz, who then began to invest heavily in the world of sports.
His adventure in Formula 1 began in 2004, 20 years after the founding of his company. In 2004, the Austrian became the owner of Jaguar Racing.
This after Red Bull ended its previous association with Sauber, 60% owner and main sponsor of the F1 team in 2001. That came after Red Bull talent Enrique Bernoldi was not hired as a driver but, rather, Kimi Raikonnen.
Mateschitz then decided to buy Jaguar Racing and change the name to Red Bull Racing. A year later, in 2005, he struck again by acquiring the Minardi F1 team along with Gerhard Berger and renaming it Toro Rosso.
It would become the sister team to Red Bull Racing, under the same ownership. This laid the foundation for later success. Along with the F1 teams, Mateschitz made a huge contribution in many other ways within the sports racing world, from MotoGP to NASCAR. He gave more than a few drivers a chance behind the wheel, many of whom would never have had an opportunity if it wasn’t for his support.
Ups And Downs Of Racing
It was a while before Red Bull Racing would really take off. Sebastian Vettel joined as a driver in 2009 after impressing at Toro Rosso. The German won the World Championship with Red Bull Racing in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, and Mateschitz was set.
Then came an eight-year drought, when Mercedes began to dominate Formula 1 under Lewis Hamilton, and the Briton won title after title. At the same time, Red Bull stayed number two along with Ferrari.
In 2016 there was Max Verstappen, who, like Vettel, had impressed at Toro Rosso. For the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, he had his Red Bull debut as a replacement for Daniil Kvyat. Daniel Ricciardo and Kvyat had been driving for the Austrian team for years but failed to give the team a title behind Mercedes.
Verstappen won his first F1 race in a Red Bull by beating Räikkönen. Then, both Verstappen and the Milton Keynes outfit got better each year until the team was able to really challenge Hamilton and Mercedes for the first time in 2021.
This resulted in a world championship. With the current course of 2022 and Verstappen’s age, 25 at the beginning of the 2023 season, Red Bull appears to remain a dominant force in Formula 1 under the financial leadership of Mateschitz.
Red Bull Finds NASCAR
The Austrian businessman’s Red Bull Racing Team competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 2006 to 2011. He also owned the Red Bull Ring, home to Red Bull Racing, and since 2014, the permanent organizer of the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix. Mateschitz bought this circuit in 2004 when it was still called the A1 ring.
In addition, he is also the one who created the Red Bull Salzburg soccer club in Austria. His company still has teams in Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, Bragantino in Brazil’s Brasileirão, and the aptly-named New York Red Bulls in MLS.
