The Mercedes Formula 1 team has announced that its controversial partnership with Kingspan will end with immediate effect.
Mercedes’ decision to link up with the firm was strongly criticised by Grenfell United – the organisation representing survivors and bereaved families from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in which 72 people died when fire swept through a London tower block in 2017.
Kingspan was implicated in the disaster through the use of its insulation materials, and also attracted criticism for its conduct around the tragedy and the inquiry into it.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff promised to meet with Grenfell United in person to discuss its concerns, and did so following the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The team then announced on Wednesday morning that Mercedes and Kingspan “have mutually agreed to end their partnership”.
Mercedes’ statement emphasised that the deal had been intended to have a “positive impact” and had been part of the team’s sustainability efforts, but accepted that it was “not appropriate” to continue.
“The new partnership included Kingspan chairing a new Sustainability Working Group for the team, and aimed to deliver carbon reductions through their leading-edge environmentally sustainable solutions for the team’s future campus,” said the team statement.
“However, both parties have subsequently concluded that it is not appropriate for the partnership to move forward at the current point in time, notwithstanding its intended positive impact, and we have therefore agreed that it will be discontinued with immediate effect.”
Grenfell United issued a statement saying was it “pleased to hear” Mercedes’ decision and confirming that its promised meeting with Wolff had taken place.
“We met with Toto Wolff and provided him and his team with the facts of Kingspan’s involvement in Grenfell, and Mercedes have done the right thing by dissociating themselves from Kingspan.
“This hopefully sends a clear message that people must be put before profit.”
It added its thanks for the public support its bid to stop the Kingspan/Mercedes deal had gathered, saying “it clearly shows that things can be achieved through a united effort” and “with justice still so far away, it’s these small steps that encourage us to keep fighting”.
Grenfell United also said it hopes the end of the deal “sets a precedent” and that other organisations will “rethink their relationships” with firms implicated in the disaster.
Kingspan also issued a statement on the end of its Mercedes deal.
It said “sustainability and sport are two long-standing passions and commitments at Kingspan” and it had hoped the Mercedes tie-up was “a unique opportunity to bring the two together in a way that would support a sport we love, while bringing sustainability to a world stage”.
But it acknowledged: “We are deeply aware of the sensitivities raised in recent days, and so we have jointly agreed that it’s not appropriate to move forward at the current point in time”.
The Kingspan statement also included a defence of its role in the fire, saying its K15 insulation board was “misused in this unsafe and non-compliant system” and adding “we condemn in the strongest possible terms the wholly unacceptable historical conduct and emails which emerged throughout the course of the Inquiry discovery process.
“We have sincerely apologised for these actions by a small group of employees at our Kingspan Insulation UK business. This in no way reflects Kingspan’s culture or values.”
The potential for the deal to be called off was hinted at over the Saudi Arabian GP weekend, with Wolff saying the furore over Kingspan was a “matter of urgency” for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton – who had personally been the focus of much of the mainstream media coverage of the controversy – intimating that the logos might come off the Mercedes.
