Hass contests Rich’s claim. Will sponsorship be resolved by race day?
SILVERSTONE, England—July 11th—It seems to be more of a question than an answer: Is the British energy giant, Rich Energy, still with the American Haas F1 Team?
Richenergy.com
Just 24 hours ago, the energy company put out this tweet: “Today (July 10th) Rich Energy terminated our contract with the Haas F1 Team for poor performance. We aim to beat Red Bull & being behind Williams Racing in Austria is unacceptable. The politics and PC attitude in F1 is also inhibiting our business. We wish the team well.”
Rich Energy seems to be pointing to the 5th and 11th that both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean did in the previous race at the Red Bull Ring. Both drivers suffered tire issues, dropping them to finish 17th and 19th, respectively, in the race. William’s George Russell finished 18th, sandwiched in between them. Williams has not scored a single point in the 2019 season so far.
To make matters worse, the symbol of the Rich Energy company was challenged in Britain’s high court, which ruled that the Whyte Bike Co. can lodge an injunction against Rich Energy because their logo is identical. The ruling forces Rich Energy to drop the logo, which was seen on parts of the Haas car. This situation also lets Whyte collect potential damages, including a possible share of Rich Energy’s profits.
Courtesy: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images and TimesLIVE)
But only 24 hours later, the situation was unclear. It might seem that Haas has no sponsorship–but as the weekend of the British Grand Prix approaches–the Rich Energy logo is still on the team’s trucks, motorhome, and team wear in the Silverstone paddock.
Haas is disputing the claim made by Rich Energy on Wednesday. “Rich Energy is currently the title partner of Haas F1 Team,” said team principal, Guenther Steiner, on Thursday morning. “I cannot comment further on the contractual relationship between our two parties due to commercial confidentiality.”
So the situation continues, which could emerge into a contractual dispute to be settled by season’s end.
