Formula 1: One team notably absent from preseason testing

As pretty much everybody in Formula 1 expected, there was no sign of Rich Energy at the opening preseason testing session in Barcelona.

The opening Formula 1 preseason testing session took place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this past week, with cars on track from Wednesday, February 23 to Friday, February 25.

However, there was one notable absence at the 16-turn, 2.892-mile (4.654-kilometer) road course in Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain, though that absence was pretty much expected.

Yet again, there was no sign of Rich Energy.

And nobody was really surprised.

For those not familiar with the so-called “premium energy drink” of the United Kingdom, which claim to be better than Red Bull both on and off the race track, Rich Energy signed a deal to serve as the title sponsor of the Haas Formula 1 team ahead of the 2019 season.

But over the summer of 2019, a disastrous and somewhat comical sequence of events led to the two sides prematurely cutting ties. The entire situation was one that you literally couldn’t dream up if you tried.

Rich Energy CEO William Storey, who also reportedly serves as the CEO of Wolf Data Systems and the managing director of Wolf Jerky (#FeedTheWolf), has been publicizing a Rich Energy return to Formula 1 for a few years now, but nothing ever seems to come of it.

Actually, scratch the word “seems” — quite simply, nothing ever comes of it, period.

Before the 2021 season, Storey was insistent that his brand would be back in Formula 1 in 2021, calling it the “greatest comeback since Lazarus” (among other things) and releasing a series of videos about the matter.

But as the 2021 season neared, that 2021 “return” transformed into a supposed 2022 return. As the end of the 2021 season neared, Storey stepped up his promotion of a 2022 return, and that promotion has continued throughout the offseason.

And now here we are, with the 23-race season approaching and Rich Energy still not fielding — or even sponsoring — an existing Formula 1 team.

Shocking.

Knowing that their absence would be noticed by the followers to whom they’ve been publicizing their “return” for several years now, Rich Energy released a very interesting reason as to why they didn’t show up.

Suffice it to say that not many believe their reasoning, even as they insist that a return is still going to happen.

The 2022 Formula 1 season is scheduled to get underway at Bahrain International Circuit with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, March 20. This track is also scheduled to host another preseason testing session from Thursday, March 10 to Saturday, March 12. We’d venture to guess that Rich Energy won’t be in Sakhir either.