Rich Energy congratulates Hamilton on winning 2021 championship

Rich Energy has an unusual history in Formula 1. The company first tried to take over Force India when it threatened to go bankrupt in 2018. Eventually, that team was sold to Lawrence Stroll, and is currently on the grid as Aston Martin. Rich Energy then shifted their focus to another team. In 2019, it was announced that the energy drink brand - which bills itself as Red Bull Energy's rival - would become Haas' new title sponsor. But even before the end of the season, Rich Energy terminated that deal again because they felt Haas was doing too badly. This was not without controversy at the time, as it would have been in breach of the contract that had been signed. Haas ended up losing almost 30 million euros in sponsorship money because of this.

Since then, the energy drinks company and its striking CEO William Storey have certainly not kept quiet. Several times, Storey suggested that the brand would return to F1, both as a sponsor and as its own team. It never really came to pass, but Storey kept spreading the rumours on Twitter, even showing a render of its own car last year.

Rich Energy is now getting involved in the discussion around the budget cap

So the brand is certainly not averse to controversy, and it is now showing. On Monday, the FIA announced that Red Bull had exceeded last year's budget ceiling by less than five per cent of its budget. Although it is still unclear exactly what the consequences of this will be, Rich Energy had already given their verdict on Twitter: "An easy decision for the FIA. The integrity of Formula 1 must be safeguarded. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on a well-deserved 2021 championship title."