Is Rich Energy real?

I’ve been going on a deep dive of Formula 1 this season, in part thanks to a Netflix miniseries F1: Drive to Survive. Naturally, I found myself rooting for Haas F1 team, the only American team on the grid.

This year, Haas’ title sponsor is Rich Energy, a company that no one has heard of. This profile on Jalopnik tries to uncover the mystery of how a company with seemingly no assets can fund the millions of dollars needed for an F1 team:

In retrospect, Rich Energy in F1 makes perfect sense. A seemingly multinational company offering a slippery product, backed by a soft-core porn billionaire and someone who made money profiting amidst political strife and Zimbabwean economic, cultural, and societal turmoil.

To add more to the mess, Rich Energy recently lost a court battle with Whyte Bikes for allegedly copying their logo.

Honestly, I just miss last year’s livery: