Sir Lewis Hamilton said he had “nothing” to do with the Mercedes-F1 team’s partnership agreement with Kingspan – an insulation company associated with Grenfell Tower.
Sir Lewis competes with the team at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this weekend.
The Kingspan logo first appeared on Sir Lewis’ car on Saturday.
At a post-qualifying press conference, Sir Lewis said the decision had “nothing” to do with him.
Kingspan’s K15 insulation was one of the products installed during the Grenfell Tower renovation (Steve Parsons / PA).
“I don’t think I need to talk about it in public,” he said.
“I had nothing to do with the fact that the team signed one of the sponsors. Tommy (Hilfiger) was the only one I probably got on the team.
“It was new to me when I heard what happened this week, and I was very aware and watched all the families who were affected by what happened there.
“We know there has been a huge outcry and an amazing amount of support from the local people.
“It’s really none of my business and I know that Toto (Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff) will take care of it.
“Unfortunately, my name is linked to it because it was on my car, but we’ll see if it stays that way.”
Sir Lewis previously wrote about the fire in Grenfell Tower on his Instagram account.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff apologized to Grenfell survivors and bereaved for the deal (David Davies / PA)
In 2020 he published a picture with the caption: “Today it has been three years since the terrible fire in Grenfell Tower in London.
“In memory of the 72 souls we have lost and their loved ones and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy.”
On Friday, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team boss Toto Wolff apologized to Grenfell survivors and bereaved and thanked the Grenfell United campaign group for the offer to meet with Kingspan after the deal was condemned.
The group had written to Mr. Wolff asking him to end the deal.
In response to this, Mr. Wolff wrote in a letter: “The tragedy of the fire in Grenfell Tower was unimaginable for me and should never have happened.
“On behalf of our team, I sincerely apologize to you for the additional pain this announcement has caused.
“That was never our intention.
“The work of the public inquiry to determine the full causes of the tragedy is vital.”
Mr Wolff said that prior to entering into the partnership, his team “looked closely at Kingspan to understand the role their products played in the events in Grenfell.”
He said: “Kingspan has stated that they were not involved in the design or construction of the Grenfell Tower cladding system and that a small percentage of their product was used as a replacement without their knowledge in a part of the system that was not compliant with building codes and was unsure. “
Grenfell survivors have asked Mercedes to end its sponsorship deal with Kingspan (James Manning / PA)
Meanwhile, community secretary Michael Gove said the government could change the advertising rules for racing cars if Mercedes doesn’t end its partnership with Kingspan.
An investigation is investigating how the Grenfell Tower was coated with combustible materials that helped spread the flames that shot up the tower in June 2017, killing 72 people.
Kingspan’s K15 insulation was one of the products installed during the Grenfell Tower renovation, although most of the insulation for the West London skyscraper was made by a different company.
In a statement released on Friday, Kingspan said it played no role in the design of the Grenfell Tower siding system.
“The Grenfell Tower fire was a tragedy that should never have happened, and Kingspan supports the extremely important work of investigating what went wrong and why,” the company said.
“Kingspan played no part in designing the cladding system for Grenfell Tower, where K15 was about 5% of the insulation and was used, without Kingspan’s knowledge, as a replacement in a non-building code system.
“The new partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team reflects the ambitious sustainability goals of both organizations.”
The post I had nothing to do with the Grenfell deal first appeared on monter-une-startup.
