Rich Energy has called an abrupt end to their title sponsorship deal with Haas citing the team’s poor performance.
The British drinks company has been quite controversial in their dealings within Formula 1 having suddenly announced they would be teaming up with the American outfit in 2019 despite holding talks with Williams towards the end of last year.
Keen to try and beat Red Bull at their own game, their marketing campaign has also been quite brash while also not grasping that Haas was not in a position to consistently challenge their Austrian rivals.
And in the social media post confirming their decision to split ahead of the British GP, that was one of the reasons cited for their immediate exit.
Today Rich Energy terminated our contract with Haas for poor performance,” a tweet read.
“We aim to beat Red Bull & being behind Williams in Austria is unacceptable. The politics and PC attitude in F1 is also inhibiting our business.
“We wish the team well,” it concluded.
The split comes after Rich Energy found themselves at the centre of several legal battles, first losing a copyright case over their stag logo with Whyte Bikes.
Also adding suspicion to the timing of their departure is a recent court order demanding to know the financial details of their sponsorship deal with Haas.
It’s safe to say having not made a great impact in F1 they will not be particularly missed, the main concern and hope will be that any lost revenue will not negatively impact Haas’ future.