Pour one out for Rich Energy, race fans (if you were ever able to find an actual can of Rich Energy to pour out, that is). The saga looks like it’s finally over. The embattled would-be energy drink company and its bombastic leader are finally parting ways with the Haas Formula One team.
Here’s the tweet from Haas F1 confirming the split:
While Haas cites the split as being amicable, I can’t help but notice how politely savage some of the other statements are. “While enjoying substantial brand recognition and significant exposure through its title sponsorship of Haas F1 Team in 2019, a corporate restructuring process at Rich Energy will see the need for a revised global strategy.”
That’s how I’m ending all my personal and business partnerships from here on out.
If you missed the drama here, it’s... a little complicated to explain. The elusive Rich Energy drink appeared in F1 out of nowhere and was difficult to research. There were court cases over logos, bad tweets, unlawful contract terminations, a whole new company founded by Rich CEO William Storey, a potential lawsuit with Red Bull, and a return of William Storey to Rich Energy. There have been more twists and turns than a soap opera, but it seems like we’ve finally hit the final episode.
It’ll be almost sad to see Rich Energy go. The company has certainly kept the 2019 season alive with intrigue and drama in a totally unprecedented way.
Where is Haas going from here? The team hasn’t said much on the sponsor front, but I think it’s fair to say that it’ll be better off—even without Rich Energy as a (pretty unstable) source of sponsorship income.