Formula 1: Haas need to get as far away from Rich Energy as possible

With the ongoing Rich Energy/Haas debacle, the Haas Formula 1 team would be smart to get as far away from Rich Energy as possible.

Haas signed Rich Energy to be their title sponsor ahead of the 2019 Formula 1 season, but just nine races into the 21-race season, controversy between the two organizations has erupted seemingly out of nowhere.

Rich Energy tweeted, seemingly out of the blue, on Wednesday that they had terminated their title sponsorship contract with Haas, and they did so through a rather harsh tweet, ripping the team for their poor performance, including their inferiority to Red Bull Racing and their Austrian Grand Prix performance during which they could not even finish ahead of both Williams Racing drivers.

They proceeded to take a dig at Formula 1 in general, namely what they consider the “PC attitude” and “politics” of the sport.

Here is this tweet, in full.

But according to Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, there was never actually a termination of the contract. However, he did state that there were certain aspects of this ordeal that he was not allowed to discuss, hinting that a controversy between the two organizations did and does, in fact, exist.

Here is his statement about the matter.

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Ever since Steiner’s statement, there have been a plethora of new reports, ranging from Rich Energy’s investors trying to salvage the company’s relationship with Haas to the shareholders who own the majority of Rich Energy blaming a “rogue” individual for this tweet to Rich Energy CEO William Storey calling the shareholders’ statement “ludicrous” and “risible” and even to Storey confirming this termination.

At this point, Formula 1’s lone American team just need to get as far away from the British beverage company as possible, as this has become far more of a headache than it is worth to a team that are already struggling, sitting in ninth place out of 10 teams in the constructor standings with just 16 points on four top 10 finishes through the season’s first nine races.

Steiner did say that this situation isn’t keeping him up at night and that it is part of the job. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to Motorsport.

"“It doesn’t upset me, it’s just something I need to deal with next week and I will. You can do without it but it’s not like I’m up at night thinking about it. We get on with the job, that’s the important thing, to get the car back where we want to be. That is our focus. It’s important but at this moment in time it’s part of the job and we’ve just got to deal with it. We all have things in our jobs we enjoy more and which we enjoy less.”"

However, he admitted that the focus needs to be on the car, and when a situation such as this one arises, that is hard to ensure, especially with so many contradicting reports and rumors going around that have stemmed from the exact same source in question, a source tied directly to the team themselves through a contract that Steiner confirmed includes commercial confidentiality.

Also, let’s consider the “source” we’re dealing with here.

Rich Energy.

Upon the confirmation of their title sponsorship agreement with Haas, there was a ton of skepticism. Many fans wondered if the company even existed, as hardly anybody had ever even heard of their products, and evidently a can of Rich Energy’s energy drink is a rare sighting. Fans were suspicious of the company from a financial standpoint, and justifiably so, from day one.

Could this kind of company make it in Formula 1, as a title sponsor, no less?

Then you have their copyright dispute with Whyte Bikes. Haas were recently asked to remove Rich Energy’s stag logo from their cars because of this dispute. The two companies have pretty much identical logos, and Whyte Bikes had theirs first.

There’s also this awkward image of Haas driver Romain Grosjean riding a Whyte Bike going around…

…but we assume that’s only relevant in that it is quite ironic.

According to ESPN, “a ruling by the High Court allowed Whyte Bikes to lodge an injunction against Rich Energy to ensure it stopped using the logo, while also entitling Whyte to potential damages or a share of profits.”

Rich Energy, however, basically made a mockery of the whole thing on Twitter, effectively proving that their logo was copied from Whyte Bikes while trying (the word “trying” is used loosely here) to make themselves out to be completely innocent.

On top of that, you have Rich Energy’s obsession, and I mean obsession, with beating Red Bull — in the drinks business and on the track.

They had been using the #betterthanredbull hashtag several years before they even entered Formula 1, and it was clear that when they finally entered the sport as Haas’ title sponsor, they had their sights set on beating the Milton Keynes-based team.

But that was it.

In Storey’s quote about Rich Energy terminating their contract with Haas, he reportedly made a random reference to Red Bull Racing in the midst of ripping Haas.

Here is this quote, according to The Sun.

"“We terminated them. Unfortunate but logical decision in light of events. Haas [are] nice people but the car is going backwards. We are a superior product to Red Bull. A milkfloat at back of grid a disaster for us. End of.”"

This quote is basically: “Haas suck, we’re done with them. We make better drinks than Red Bull. Haas suck, so we’re gone.”

Honestly, assuming the quote is legitimate, what does that even mean??

They literally thought they were just going to waltz into the “pinnacle of motorsport” and break into the top tier of teams that has been occupied by the same three teams for each of the last seven seasons and beat a perennial contender, a four-time champion in this decade alone.

Haas are nowhere even remotely close to even being remotely close to Red Bull Racing from a performance standpoint. Last season was Haas’ best season since they arrived in Formula 1 ahead of the 2016 season, and they finished in fifth place in the constructor standings with 93 points. Red Bull Racing, meanwhile, finished in third, a total of 326 points ahead of them with 419 points.

So far this season, Red Bull Racing have not only beaten Haas but absolutely annihilated then in every major statistical category as well as in raw pace. To add salt in the wound, Haas are the only team that have had one of their drivers fail to finish ahead of both Williams drivers in multiple races.

Perhaps most importantly from a PR standpoint, Rich Energy are a total nightmare for any Formula 1 team. The immaturity and lack of professionalism in their tweet from Wednesday illustrates this, but it didn’t just start here, as you can see in the above logo tweet and in their contradicting statements.

When Rich Energy had interest in purchasing Force India (now Racing Point) last year, they ripped Mercedes, Force India driver Sergio Perez and others when Force India ended up being sent into administration. They claim that they were responsible for a “last-minute £30 million case infusion” that would have staved off administration, but it was rejected.

Additionally, Rich Energy considered sponsoring Williams for the 2019 season, but they decided against it, and when they did, Storey did not have anything positive to say about the team from a business standpoint. He was not afraid to make that public, either.

Here is what he said, according to Autoweek.

"“I felt sorry for Williams in the end. I felt that as a business, they were living off past glories and didn’t run a very good business.”"

A simple glance at Rich Energy’s Twitter account will reveal several other tweets that you wouldn’t expect from a sponsor of a race team, much less a title sponsor of a Formula 1 team, because of how unprofessional they are.

The buck (no pun intended as it pertains to the copied logo) needs to stop somewhere, especially at this level.

With all the mayhem currently going on between Haas and Rich Energy in the middle of the 2019 Formula 1 season, Haas would be smart to get as far away from Rich Energy as possible, and as soon as possible.

Nobody would fault them for it, especially when a majority of the fanbase saw this disaster coming well before it hit, but if they don’t, they are only setting themselves up for further disasters like this one, especially since Haas don’t have a flying chance to beat Red Bull Racing.