Red Bull mourns the sudden death of skydiver Felix Baumgartner. The Austrian, personally sponsored by the energy drink company, was best known for his record-breaking skydive from the ‘edge of space’ to Earth in 2012. Baumgartner was 56 years old when he died in a paragliding accident over Italy.
While Red Bull is primarily known to Formula 1 fans as the team for which Max Verstappen has been driving for years, the energy drink company is also active in other sports. The Austrians sponsor around 750 athletes in sports such as MotoGP, mountain biking, BMX, windsurfing, snowboarding, rowing, skateboarding, and surfing. Skydiving is also part of Red Bull’s portfolio, and the company was a personal sponsor of the sport’s pioneer, Felix Baumgartner.
Austrian Baumgartner died last Thursday in a paragliding accident. The 56-year-old Baumgartner lost control of his motorized paraglider during a flight over the Italian Porto Sant’Elpidio. The exact circumstances of the accident are still unclear. Red Bull paid tribute to the man known as ‘Fearless Felix’.
In addition to skydiving, Baumgartner also found time in 2013 for a spin in a Formula 1 car, along with Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard (Source: Red Bull).
‘Thank You, Felix’
“You were unyielding when you set your mind to something,” begins Red Bull’s tribute to Baumgartner. “Debating with you was only a good idea if you came with strong arguments. You never chose the easy path and that made you stand out. You always sought the greatest challenges and mastered them with sharp thinking, ruthless precision, and a hefty dose of courage. You immersed yourself in every project. No detail was too small, no risk too great – as long as you could calculate it.”
“We grew with you and you with us. We wouldn’t trade a single day we had together. You will remain with us as a colleague, a loyal companion, but above all as a friend. Thank you, Felix. For everything.” Baumgartner made international headlines when he jumped from a balloon 38 kilometers above the earth in a specially made suit in 2012, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier. As a tribute to Baumgartner’s jump, Sebastian Vettel raced with a special helmet during the 2013 Bahrain GP.
