Mercedes named Kingspan as a new partner ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix last week but saw outrage over the company’s involvement in the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Kingspan insulation was one of the products used on the outside of the tower and its role in the tragedy that killed 72 people is under public investigation.
The Grenfell United interest group, made up of survivors and bereaved, wrote to Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff to express their disgust at Kingspan’s sponsorship deal.
UK Government Secretary Michael Gove also wrote an open letter to Wolff asking him to reconsider the deal and warning that the UK government could change the rules of promoting motorsport, so much was their anger over the situation.
Wolff hinted on Saturday that Mercedes might reevaluate the deal with Kingspan, and the team announced on Wednesday, ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi, that the deal had been terminated amicably.
“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Kingspan announced today that they have mutually agreed to end their partnership,” said a statement from Mercedes.
“The new partnership announced last week included Kingspan chairing a new sustainability working group for the team, aiming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for the team’s future campus through their cutting-edge, green solutions.
“However, in retrospect, both parties have come to the conclusion that a continuation of the partnership is not appropriate at this point in time, despite the intended positive effects, and we have therefore agreed that it will be terminated with immediate effect.”
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes AMG
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
In its own statement, Kingspan said it is “deeply aware of the sensitivities that have been expressed over the past few days and therefore we all agree that it is not appropriate to move forward at this time”.
Kingspan also responded to some of the backlash it faced, saying it “played no role in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower” and that its UK insulation business “is a key participant in the Grenfell Tower investigation and is doing important work.” the investigation fully supported ”. .
“We strongly condemn the completely unacceptable historical behavior and the e-mails that emerged in the course of the investigative process of the investigation,” the statement said.
“We sincerely apologized for these actions by a small group of employees from our UK company, Kingspan Insulation. This in no way reflects the culture or values of Kingspan. “
Grenfell United responded to the news by saying that Mercedes “did the right thing in distancing itself from Kingspan. “As justice is still so far away, it is these small steps that encourage us to keep fighting,” said a message from the group on Twitter.
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