The demise of Dietrich Mateschitz, owner of Red Bull and the founder of Red Bull Racing, has left the motorsports fraternity in shock. Since the news broke out, tributes have poured in from around the motorsport world, including from reigning world champion Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
In a significant development, Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel has decided to honour Mateschitz with a custom helmet for the Mexican Grand Prix. Ahead of the Mexican GP, Vettel looked back at his memories of Mateschitz. Vettel admitted that he shared a great relationship with Mateschitz, and 'despite his rich experience and knowledge about the sports, late Mateschitz treated young drivers equally.'
"It's been a real shock, last week, to hear the news and a massive, massive loss. To me, he's been a great inspiration because he has always been himself. So many things happened and evolved in his life, and he got so big around him, but it is his creative mind probably shaped that path until the very end so that it will be a huge loss for the Red Bull family, not just for racing, all of us in Formula 1, with the impact of two teams on the grid and the drivers," said Vettel.
Vettel will return to a classic design inspired by the Red Bull drinks cans and very similar to what he used early in his racing career. The helmet will also read 'Danke Didi,' a reference to Mateschitz's nickname. The quartered blue-and-silver colour scheme was the base design for most of Vettel's helmets through his time at Red Bull, which backed him during his junior career and ran him to all four of his world championship wins.
The Mexican Grand Prix will also be one of the last F1 races of Vettel's career, who announced in July that this would be his final season. Vettel is coming off an eight-place finish at the United States Grand Prix following the news that Fernando Alonso's post-race penalty has been rescinded and has placed in the points in each of the last three races.
