Stranger Things is the title of a wildly popular Netflix show but those two words more accurately reflect the current situation between the Haas Formula One racing team and their title sponsor, Rich Energy.
Two months ago, Rich Energy was defeated by Whyte Bikes in a UK court case where Whyte accused Rich Energy of appropriating their logo and Rich Energy was ordered to cease using their logo and pay Whyte remunerations. Rich Energy withdrew their stag-horn logo from Haas cars for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix.
Then, earlier this week, Rich Energy was reportedly ousted as the title sponsor of Haas after a cryptic tweet from the company’s official Twitter seemed to confirm it.
But not so fast!
Haas denied that was the case and said the tweet was the work of a “rogue” executive, speculated to be CEO and company founder, William Storey [far left, in the photo above] who has accused Rich Energy shareholders Neville Watson and Charlie Simpson of being in cahoots with Red Bull and Whyte Bikes and staging an “attempted coup” of his position.
Storey maintains that he “controls more than 51% of the shares” in Rich Energy, so whether or not an alleged coup attempt can be successful remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the 2019 British Grand Prix is slated for this weekend, Sunday, July 14, 2019.