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Racing with Rich Energy: How a Rogue Sponsor Took Formula One for a Ride
Formula One is known for glitz and glamour, but lurking in the background are dark, and sometimes deeply strange, goings on: sex scandals with prison camp themes, Nigerian prince scams, protests of its grands prix in countries known for their human rights violations, tax evasion--the list goes on. These things often stay in the background, thanks to efforts by the series to maintain an opulent aura. But with the 2019 season came a force louder than Formula One could dream of muffling: William Storey, the founder of British startup Rich Energy. Storey became a multimillion-dollar sponsor of the Haas Formula One Team a year after records showed Rich Energy having a mere $770 in the bank, but that didn't matter. Storey equated his doubters to moon-landing truthers and publicly mocked entities winning legal disputes against him. In the six months between Storey's first race as a Formula One sponsor and his very public exit, he became the most visible part of the world's most visible racing series, easily tearing down its red-carpet facades with a loud mouth and an active Twitter account. Haas team boss Guenther Steiner described the Rich Energy news cycle, as: I'm getting sick of answering these stupid fucking questions on a race weekend. I've never seen any fucking thing like this. This book is the fascinating, bizarre, and complete story.
433 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 29, 2022
50 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 9, 2023
This book is exhaustively researched, which is evident by the 84 pages of bibliography, notes, and appendices at the end of the book. I salute the authors’ dedication to digging up as much as they did. But Rich Energy and William Storey are such enigmatic entities that it’s hard to conclude anything beyond “Yes they behaved weird and said some pretty weird stuff”.
I was hoping the book would present a conclusion of some kind, but it didn’t. Of the authors’ own admission, it’s too early to say anything definite. Most chapters felt like a twitter page was being read to me.
“On this day, this person said this”
“Then on this day, this person said this”
“Then on this day, this other person said this”
I never felt like anything was synthesized out of it. If you want to read and understand as much detail as you can about Rich Energy and it’s bizarre brand trajectory, this is your book; I just didn’t find it nearly as satisfying as I hoped it would be. I don’t feel like I understand anything more conclusively about Rich Energy or Storey now than before I read the book.
Great research, just wish the book had more personality and an insightful conclusion, but sometimes when you dig you only find more dirt.
I was hoping the book would present a conclusion of some kind, but it didn’t. Of the authors’ own admission, it’s too early to say anything definite. Most chapters felt like a twitter page was being read to me.
“On this day, this person said this”
“Then on this day, this person said this”
“Then on this day, this other person said this”
I never felt like anything was synthesized out of it. If you want to read and understand as much detail as you can about Rich Energy and it’s bizarre brand trajectory, this is your book; I just didn’t find it nearly as satisfying as I hoped it would be. I don’t feel like I understand anything more conclusively about Rich Energy or Storey now than before I read the book.
Great research, just wish the book had more personality and an insightful conclusion, but sometimes when you dig you only find more dirt.
December 18, 2022
Just watch the Chain Bear video. There's nothing in this book that isn't in the video. The book just restates the same topics over and over in order to pad the word count. The authors repeatedly use Reddit and Twitter users as sources. When people on both sides of the issue decline to answer the authors questions they portray them as if that's a morally reprehensible act.
November 12, 2023
A well researched deep dive into parts of Formula 1 that make you just shake your head.
March 5, 2024
This could be the worst book I have ever finished. The subject matter and my masochistic tendencies kept me reading, but it was truly painful. I did not expect great literature, but this book should live on as a cautionary tale for any journalists who stray too far from careful editorial review.
The only reason for a second rating star is that there is actual research involved, and the words are a recognizable language.
The issues will require much more space. The timeline is completely disjointed, with so much jumping around that even I was confused, as an engaged and familiar fan. Some concepts are overly explained as if the reader has never seen an F1 race, but other items are glossed over and require a foundational understanding to grasp. And, let's be honest, there are no readers of this book who are unfamiliar with F1. There is political dialogue where it does not belong, and even though I agreed, I found it irksome and inappropriate. There is also considerable repetition, much like those clip shows on TV that play 30 seconds of a 35-second video, take a commercial break, and then start over and play all 35 seconds. It's exhausting.
While I understand the authors had trouble getting anyone to speak on the record, there is no reason to force the reader to suffer in order to produce the book. This book should have been an article, which it originally was. Stretching it into chapters introduced so many unwelcome elements that it lost its way entirely. I have read 900+ page books and been less excited to be finished with them than I was with this travesty.
The only reason for a second rating star is that there is actual research involved, and the words are a recognizable language.
The issues will require much more space. The timeline is completely disjointed, with so much jumping around that even I was confused, as an engaged and familiar fan. Some concepts are overly explained as if the reader has never seen an F1 race, but other items are glossed over and require a foundational understanding to grasp. And, let's be honest, there are no readers of this book who are unfamiliar with F1. There is political dialogue where it does not belong, and even though I agreed, I found it irksome and inappropriate. There is also considerable repetition, much like those clip shows on TV that play 30 seconds of a 35-second video, take a commercial break, and then start over and play all 35 seconds. It's exhausting.
While I understand the authors had trouble getting anyone to speak on the record, there is no reason to force the reader to suffer in order to produce the book. This book should have been an article, which it originally was. Stretching it into chapters introduced so many unwelcome elements that it lost its way entirely. I have read 900+ page books and been less excited to be finished with them than I was with this travesty.
February 4, 2024
I was really excited to read this book initially, but unfortunately there’s nothing there. The authors basically admit in the last chapter that they didn’t break anything new in this story, that most people they wanted to talk to didn’t answer them, and that things fell apart.
I’ve read plenty of books that start out with the authors saying they interviewed 100-200 people, but this is the only one that starts out saying “we tried” to interview 150 people. They then spend a preposterous number of paragraphs in the book talking about people they wanted to interview, what questions they would have asked, and how that person wouldn’t answer them. There’s probably 100 people who turned them down for interviews, and as if anyone cares, they probably list out all 100 by name at some point. Like what am I reading? It feels like the authors are writing a book to defend themselves against kickstarter investors who feel ripped off, by saying “we tried really hard and our citations are really thorough and people just didn’t answer our emails”.
The book is also horribly edited and organized. It’s as if the two authors wrote each chapter separately and never read what the other one wrote. The same details and quotes are constantly repeated. The timeline is nonsensical.
Again, I would have loved to enjoy this, and laugh at Rich Energy, and learn new things. But unfortunately this book was so bad it probably shouldn’t have been written. It’s a news article stretched into a book, where nothing new comes out.
I’ve read plenty of books that start out with the authors saying they interviewed 100-200 people, but this is the only one that starts out saying “we tried” to interview 150 people. They then spend a preposterous number of paragraphs in the book talking about people they wanted to interview, what questions they would have asked, and how that person wouldn’t answer them. There’s probably 100 people who turned them down for interviews, and as if anyone cares, they probably list out all 100 by name at some point. Like what am I reading? It feels like the authors are writing a book to defend themselves against kickstarter investors who feel ripped off, by saying “we tried really hard and our citations are really thorough and people just didn’t answer our emails”.
The book is also horribly edited and organized. It’s as if the two authors wrote each chapter separately and never read what the other one wrote. The same details and quotes are constantly repeated. The timeline is nonsensical.
Again, I would have loved to enjoy this, and laugh at Rich Energy, and learn new things. But unfortunately this book was so bad it probably shouldn’t have been written. It’s a news article stretched into a book, where nothing new comes out.
June 22, 2025
Credit to the extensive research authors did digging into court documents, social media posts, interviews, etc. However, I found the book poorly organized such that the timeline was confusing, facts were often repeated, and no real narrative emerged to tie the story together. Entire documents, emails, and lists of questions were printed verbatim rather than summarized, presumably to add length. As a result, it dragged, even for a reader who probably finds the Rich Energy saga more interesting than 99% of the population.
It came as a surprise how generous the authors were to William Storey, implying he might have been a well-meaning if overly hyperbolic CEO who got in the way of a legitimate energy drink product. My reading of the facts presented in the book was that he conned the Haas team out of millions of dollars of sponsorship value.
The biggest issue is . . . that I didn't really learn anything substantial or interesting about Rich Energy I didn't already know. Sure, there were lots of names and dates and lawsuits, but if you're not a lawyer or investigative journalist, so what? As the authors admit, they weren't able to get at the important questions about William Storey's origins and why professionals like Guenther Steiner would sign onto a deal with such a shady partner, mostly because so few people agreed to talk to them.
At the end of the day, this really should have been a long article and nothing more.
It came as a surprise how generous the authors were to William Storey, implying he might have been a well-meaning if overly hyperbolic CEO who got in the way of a legitimate energy drink product. My reading of the facts presented in the book was that he conned the Haas team out of millions of dollars of sponsorship value.
The biggest issue is . . . that I didn't really learn anything substantial or interesting about Rich Energy I didn't already know. Sure, there were lots of names and dates and lawsuits, but if you're not a lawyer or investigative journalist, so what? As the authors admit, they weren't able to get at the important questions about William Storey's origins and why professionals like Guenther Steiner would sign onto a deal with such a shady partner, mostly because so few people agreed to talk to them.
At the end of the day, this really should have been a long article and nothing more.
January 16, 2023
I came into this one with high hopes, as I enjoy the motorsports coverage and social media presence of both authors and thought they would come together to make a great book about what I feel is one of the most interesting teams in F1, Haas. Unfortunately, the book is plagued by the fact that aside from William Storey, none of the other major players in the Rich Energy x Haas F1 fiasco cooperated with the authors, leaving large gaps that simply couldn't be answered by the handful of anonymous sources that did provide quotes for the book. Aside from the quotes from those sources, the authors relied on quotes from past interviews, team statements, blurbs from lawsuits, etc. to fill out the story, which made for a dull read overall.
This topic would probably make for an amazing read with cooperation from all of the major players. Here's to hoping Guenther Steiner writes a book some day.
This topic would probably make for an amazing read with cooperation from all of the major players. Here's to hoping Guenther Steiner writes a book some day.
February 19, 2025
An interesting tale about a mostly scam company and its bombastic CEO sneaking into and making its presence known at the highest level of notorsports--F1; but most of the book is filler. The authors, presumably seeking to fill pages, include what should have been reporting notes, like unanswered interview questions and recitations of legal filings and court transcripts, and long quotes from Twitter feeds, hash tags included. A twenty page magazine article probably would have been a better length. The author's provide a lot useful context about the history of advertising in F1 and other motorsports, but little of it is directly revelatory about the Rich Energy Saga. In the end, the reader is left with a bit more detail about how Rich Energy broke into F1 and who Rich Energy actually is, but there are also still many questions left unanswered about Haas's due diligence process and the Company and CEO's history and future.
January 23, 2023
A well-researched and fact based account of the “do’s and don’ts”, as in “don’t do this”, of business marketing that is presented through the story of Formula 1 and a team sponsor. Before reading this book, I was unaware of the drama surrounding the title product and the journalists/authors shared a great deal of knowledge and research in a readable manner. This book also briefly discusses the European response to events that have so far defined the 2020 decade in the United States. At times, however, pacing seemed to be an issue within the chapters along with a bouncing timeline of events. Perhaps some of that is due to the subject matter and content in question. 4.5/5 stars.
May 14, 2023
Really great story which is insanely mental, but the book itself reads like a too-long article. King and Blackstock’s research is extensive, but have very few direct sources, most of whom participated a) in a limited capacity or b) on condition of anonymity.
Which makes sense; Rich Energy was a black eye for Haas, F1, and the shadier side of sport sponsorship in the first place (FIFA, IOC, LIV). It shines light in a lot of places which need it. But, again, it reads like a news article, which makes it seem to long. Unless you’re keen on F1, or familiar with the scandal, the authors really struggle at times to keep you engaged in the wider story.
Which makes sense; Rich Energy was a black eye for Haas, F1, and the shadier side of sport sponsorship in the first place (FIFA, IOC, LIV). It shines light in a lot of places which need it. But, again, it reads like a news article, which makes it seem to long. Unless you’re keen on F1, or familiar with the scandal, the authors really struggle at times to keep you engaged in the wider story.
December 31, 2023
Started getting into F1 after this occurred (via Drive to Survive on Netflix), so didn't know too much about this. Very entertaining story and appreciated the additional details. Good balance of research and storytelling.
Listened to the audiobook, and the narration was rather monotone at times for how ridiculous some of the story is, but got a lot of laughs out of all the hashtags in the tweets included in the book.
Would recommend to other F1 fans who enjoy hearing more about the around the track drama.
Listened to the audiobook, and the narration was rather monotone at times for how ridiculous some of the story is, but got a lot of laughs out of all the hashtags in the tweets included in the book.
Would recommend to other F1 fans who enjoy hearing more about the around the track drama.
March 4, 2025
As much as I enjoy Mrs. King on social media, I was overall disappointed that the novel didn't really do anything different than spending a few hours on Google looking everything up. Not that I didn't enjoy the effort they put into this, with a giant section on their sources, but I felt as if they were repeating the same points over and over again with little in the way of getting closer to, "the point," if you will.
Honestly, I'm just more upset that I spent $30 on this through Amazon; thanks for nothing!
Honestly, I'm just more upset that I spent $30 on this through Amazon; thanks for nothing!
February 21, 2023
Alanis and Elizabeth covered all of their bases in attempting to uncover the facts and truth of a bizarre story. But no one other than occasionally Storey agreed to interviews, and the book wasn't able to paint a full picture. In that way, it was disappointing. Yet, it was still an interesting read (I should note I did not follow the 2019 season in real time). I laughed out loud at some absurdities.
March 1, 2023
Are Elizabeth Blackstock and Alanis King the John Carreyrou of the racing world? Because Rich Energy was basically the Theranos of energy drinks, and this book was giving serious Bad Blood vibes. I was enthralled.
Haas is a hot mess and a half. What a wild ride. If you are interested in Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, MLMs, cults, or just scam stories in general, you might want to add this to your nonfiction TBR.
Haas is a hot mess and a half. What a wild ride. If you are interested in Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, MLMs, cults, or just scam stories in general, you might want to add this to your nonfiction TBR.
April 17, 2023
This was a fun, light-hearted run through a story that’s absurd even by F1 standards. There’s some repetition that can probably be attributed to having two authors but the voice is consistent overall.
October 26, 2022
So interesting and insightful! A must read for any F1 fan!
November 9, 2022
Brilliant read! A huge must for any formula 1 fan. Very well written by the authors
February 19, 2023
Really well-researched, and only suffers from the lack of cooperation of the big players. Fully bonkers that this guy ever got within a mile of an F1 team.
February 27, 2023
Not only do you get the story behind the Rich Energy mess, but you also get to read about the other issues that exist with sponsorship in Nascar, Indy and F1. Super fascinating and enriching read.
June 26, 2023
the reviewer declined to comment.
August 4, 2023
Wanted to enjoy this but it didn’t tell me anything that wasn’t covered in the press. Also the timeline jumped around and made it super confusing.
December 13, 2023
Why is this book written as if they published the reporter’s notebook verbatim? There is no narrative through line nor any revelation addressing the mystery of Rich Energy.
December 17, 2023
Elizabeth and Alanis are fantastic and did a great job, but the book was held back by the utter disinterest in the most knowledgeable subjects of answering the interview questions.
January 6, 2024
Great read for fans of racing, F1 and stories about kooky weirdos.
April 14, 2024
Interesting topic but structured very poorly, going over the same issues over and over and sometimes in a nonsensical order.
May 31, 2024
the content was interesting!!! but it was so dense and for me personally, it took a long time to get through when i usually read books fast!!
July 7, 2025
This book was painful to listen to. Very repetitive. Felt like it was hours of listening to someone read out LinkedIn posts.
March 3, 2024
There not much to say here. The book was interesting, but talks itself in the circle. It is definitely not a book I'd recommend to everyone and definitely not one I'd read again for enjoyment.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews