Ferrari ‘deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz’. Ferrari 'deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz'.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire whose Red Bull energy drinks business has grown into one of the biggest sponsors in motorsport, has died at the age of 78, due to a long illness.

Red Bull’s presence in Formula 1 alone includes two teams: the eponymous championship-winning squad and its sister squad based in Italy, named after the company’s fashion label AlphaTauri. It also holds a round of the world championship at the Red Bull Ring, while its Servus TV channel has the rights to broadcast the sport in Austria.

Mateschitz, who co-founded Red Bull in 1984 with Chaleo Yoovidhya after discovering the recipe for the drink in Thailand, began using motorsport to promote the brand soon after it went on sale. Gerhard Berger became the first driver to be sponsored by the company in 1987. Mateschitz has only occasionally appeared in person to witness his team’s Formula 1 success, and had not been seen in an F1 paddock for several years. Widely considered one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, his fortune was estimated at being in excess of $15 billion (£13bn).

Ferrari shared a message on its social media accounts to remember Dietrich Mateschitz:

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz. A man who loved our sport and challenges. On behalf of everyone at Ferrari, we offer our condolences to his family and to our friends at Redbull Racing and AlphaTauriF1. Our thoughts are with them all.”