RICH ENERGY GOES ROGUE
Ever since Haas title sponsor Rich Energy boldly declared before the start of the season that its target was to beat Red Bull this year, the company has found itself at the centre of a remarkable Formula 1 soap opera.
From battling social media scepticism about the availability of its products, to fighting (and losing) a copyright infringement case against Whyte Bikes over its stag logo, the energy drinks company has seldom been out of the spotlight.
But its involvement in F1 took a remarkable twist on the eve of the British Grand Prix when the company announced on social media that it had terminated its sponsorship deal with Haas with immediate effect because the team had been underperforming. Rich Energy’s CEO William Storey later labelled the Haas car a ‘milkfloat’.
But that post was just the start of a drama that is far from over. For it emerged that the Haas sponsorship termination came amid a boardroom battle for control of Rich Energy. On one side was Storey, while on the other were shareholders trying to keep the Haas deal alive and push what they called a “rogue individual” aside.
Against that backdrop, Haas’s lawyers have been trying to get clarity from Rich Energy about the situation, and claim the sponsorship termination is a breach of contract – so compensation will be required.
Storey himself has continued to fire barbs at the team from the Rich Energy Twitter account. As this edition of F1 Racing closed for press the saga took a further turn as Storey announced he had sold his controlling stake in the business to a “third party”. Documents filed at Companies House indicate this has been done via the BDG Group, an entity that describes itself as “the UK’S leading unlicensed Insolvency Practitioners”.
Haas has tried to distance itself from the boardroom battles. For now, to ensure there is no breach of contract from its side, it has kept the Rich Energy branding on its car. Team boss Guenther Steiner is doing the best he can to keep the focus on what is happening on track.
“I think we are in a good position because we showed the world even with a controversy outside of us we are not doing things which we shouldn’t be doing, we work professionally, and keep out of things which we cannot control,” he explained. “And are not entitled to control, by the way. We just go along and what happens happens, and then we deal with them.
“We are keeping our line. If they’ve got a problem, so be it. There are a lot of positive people who think we’re doing a great job. We got a lot of compliments even if you think we’re a bunch of you-know-whats.”
HAAS’S LAWYERS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET CLARITY FROM RICH ENERGY AND CLAIM THE SPONSORSHIP TERMINATION IS A BREACH OF CONTRACT – SO COMPENSATION WILL BE REQUIRED