Mercedes announced Kingspan as a new partner ahead of last week’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but quickly came under fire and protest over Kingspan’s involvement in the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Kingspan insulation was one of the products used on the tower’s exterior, and its role in the tragedy that killed 72 people continues to be investigated in a public inquiry.
The lobby group Grenfell United, made up of survivors and relatives of the deceased, wrote to Mercedes F1 director Toto Wolff to express their displeasure at the sponsorship deal with Kingspan.
UK government minister Michael Gove also wrote an open letter to Wolff, urging him to rethink that partnership and warning that the UK government could change advertising rules for motorsports following this case.
Wolff hinted in Jeddah on Saturday that Mercedes might reassess its tie-up with Kingspan, and the team announced ahead of the season finale at the Abu Dhabi GP on Wednesday that they had mutually agreed to break the contract.
“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and Kingspan announced today that they have mutually agreed to end their partnership,” the Mercedes statement said.
“Announced last week, in the new partnership Kingspan chaired a new Sustainability Working Group for the team, and aimed to deliver carbon reductions through its cutting-edge environmentally sustainable solutions for the team’s future campus.”
“However, both parties have concluded that it is not appropriate at this time to continue together, despite the anticipated positive impact, and we have therefore agreed that the partnership will be discontinued with immediate effect.”
In its statement, Kingspan defined itself as “deeply aware of the sensitivities raised in recent days”, so “we have jointly agreed that it is not appropriate to move forward at this time”.
Kingspan also wanted to respond to some of the backlash it has suffered, saying it “had no role in the Grenfell Tower renovation” and that its UK insulation business is “a major player in the tower investigation.” Grenfell and fully supports the important work of the investigation”.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the historic conduct and totally unacceptable emails that have surfaced throughout the Inquiry’s discovery process,” the statement added.
“We have sincerely apologized for these actions by a small group of employees in our Kingspan Insulation UK business. This in no way reflects Kingspan’s culture or values.”
For its part, the Grenfell United group (who had asked Wolff to reconsider the agreement) responded to the news by saying that Mercedes had “done the right thing by disassociating itself from Kingspan”.
“While justice is still so far away, it is these small steps that encourage us to continue fighting,” the group said on Twitter.
