3x F1 race winner shares the story of how Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz rescued Sauber in 1995

Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen has claimed that Red Bull co-owner, late Dietrich Mateschitz, had saved Sauber from going bankrupt after German giants Mercedes left the team in the 1995 season.

The Austrian entered F1 as a sponsor for former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger in the late 80s after making a name for himself in the energy drink market around Europe. In 1995, he saved Sauber from going bankrupt after he bought more than 60 percent of the team and kept it afloat for the future.

Then-Sauber driver and three-time race winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen recently recalled the tale about the difficult start to the 1995 season for the Hinwill-based team on his X account. He tweeted:

"After Mercedes left Sauber in 1995 we had luckily Ford with Michael’s previous year's engines and also a very big help from at the time unknown company called Red Bull.

"Dietrich Mateschitz put all his money in the company & sponsorship and he believed Formula 1 is the only way to get famous. I was impressed by someone like him giving all his hope in us…."

The Red Bull founder remained as the majority owner of the team until the 2001 season when Sauber decided to give an opportunity to Kimi Raikkonen instead of Red Bull junior Enrique Bernoldi.

Adrian Newey reminisces about his first meeting with Red Bull founder

Red Bull CTO Adrian Newey has stated that he met Dietrich Mateschitz in Salzburg with team principal Christian Horner and David Coulthard after the billionaire had sent a plane for them.

While appearing on the Formula for Success podcast, Newey said of the Austrian:

"Dietrich sent a plane over to collect us and take us over to um Salsburg where the headquarters are. I met Dietrich and he had a presence and a personality um so obviously I agreed to sign."

The 65-year-old also spoke about the quality that made the Austrian remarkable:

"He gave us complete autonomy if we needed investment in some piece of equipment like the simulator or wind tunnel, then he would as long as we went over and gave a good business case of what it would do and how much it would cost he invariably said yes."

Dietrich Mateschitz passed away in late 2022 at the age of 78 having helped make the energy drink team the dominant force it is today.