The Red Bull camp announced extremely sad news ahead of the US Grand Prix qualifying session. The co-owner of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz passed away aged 78 after succumbing to a long-term illness.

The illness also bound the Red Bull owner to privacy, as he did not make any public appearances. The Red Bull boss even missed out on celebrations of Verstappen’s second championship. More importantly, Dietrich Mateschitz was not part of the dealing with Porsche, which eventually fell through.

However, before his illness restricted the Red Bull boss to isolation, he was the man behind Red Bull Racing’s dealings. We would like to corroborate this statement with an incident shared by Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone revealed how 28-year-old Lewis Hamilton wanted a move to Red Bull ahead of the 2013 season from McLaren. However, the late Red Bull owner wanted to show his loyalty to the championship contributor, Mark Webber.

“Dietrich is a very honest, straightforward guy and told Mark the door was open for him to stay. That was good of him. Had Mark gone, Dietrich would have signed Lewis,” revealed Ecclestone in 2013.

“Sebastian wouldn’t have cared if Lewis had signed for the team,” added Ecclestone, regarding the potential pairing.

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The Red Bull owner stayed true to the Australian who contributed to Red Bull’s most successful era so yet. Now the Austrian is not among us and has left a big hole in the Red Bull family.

Christian Horner shares his thoughts on Dietrich Mateschitz

The man responsible for Red Bull Racing’s introduction to Formula 1 will not be able to witness his team become world champions this year. A big loss for the entire Red Bull family and team principal Christian Horner echoes the feeling in his comments.

“He was an incredible man, and he loved Formula One. We owe him a great deal as a team, and what he would want more than anything is to see his two cars go out in qualifying today. My thoughts are with his family,” said Horner.

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The Austrian might’ve passed away, but he has amassed an incredible empire in his 78 years on earth and that will never be forgotten.