Red Bull Owner Acquires Rare F1 Cars for Astonishing $650 Million from Former F1 CEO

Red Bull GmbH co-owner, Mark Mateschitz has reportedly bought an extremely rare collection of historic Formula One cars for around $650 million from former F1 CEO, Bernie Ecclestone. Mark inherited 49 percent of the company’s shares from his late father and Red Bull Racing founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, after he died in 2022.

The Daily Mail broke the news of the mega deal, but the specific value remains undisclosed. Mark is reported to be a friend of the Ecclestones, who said that he plans to display the collection of cars to the public in the future. Among the cars in the collection is the Brabham BT46 ‘fan car’ designed by Gordon Murray that was driven to victory by Niki Lauda.

In addition, Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari from the 2002 season, the F2002, is also a part of the dream collection. The car in question took Schumacher to the podium in all 17 Grands Prix and contributed to his 11 race victories, eventually leading him to secure his fifth world championship title.

Ecclestone stated that he was relieved the cars were now in safe hands. He said:

“These are unique vehicles. They have written sport history and marked technical milestones. They embody 70 years of F1 history.

“It means a great deal to me to know that this collection is now in the very best of hands.

“Mark is the best and most worthy owner we could ever imagine.”

Mark said that the cars will be made accessible to the public in the near future. He added:

“I am very pleased that Bernie has placed his trust in me to take care of this historically significant collection.

“It will be carefully preserved, and expanded over the years, and in the near future it will be made accessible to the public at an appropriate location.”

Ecclestone revealed to the Telegraph last year that he wished to get rid of his iconic car collection, probably considering his age of 94 years. He stressed that he didn’t want to burden his wife, Fabiana Ecclestone, with managing the cars in his absence, and thus thought it would be best to find a suitable home for the rare machines. When asked for the reason for putting the cars on sale, he said:

“It’s very easy.

“With a bit of luck I might get two or three more years, and I don’t want to leave all this for Fabiana to sort.

“All these car dealers would be driving her mad, so the best thing to do is to get all the cars together and try to make sure they go to proper homes.

“Ace [Ecclestone’s youngest son] might not be interested in handling all this either. He might be more into football.

“Sooner or later, this had to happen. I’m still more or less in control, so I can do what I like. Maybe in another year I won’t be able to.”