Mercedes’ Kingspan F1 sponsorship outrages Grenfell fire survivors

Ahead of this weekend’s inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced a new partnership with Irish company Kingspan, whose logos now feature on the team’s W12 car driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. 

The Irish building materials firm made some of the insulation cladding used on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower. A fire which broke out in the block of flats in June 2017 killed 72 people. 

A former employee told a public inquiry that Kingspan’s new formulation of its K15 insulation which was mounted on to Grenfell Tower burned “like a raging inferno” when fire-tested prior to the disaster in 2007. 

The inquiry also found the company used an old pass result from 2005 in order to continue selling its cladding for use on high-rise buildings across the UK, with company executives ignoring safety concerns.

Grenfell United has written a letter to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff asking the team to “immediately sever your relationship” with Kingspan. 

“Kingspan played a central role in inflicting the pain and suffering that we feel today, and there must be a degree of public censure for Kingspan’s recklessness and carelessness for human life,” it continued. 

Micheal Gove, the UK’s Secretary of State for Housing and Communities, also joined the condemnation. 

He tweeted: "Deeply disappointed that @MercedesAMGF1 are accepting sponsorship from cladding firm Kingspan while the Grenfell Inquiry is ongoing. I will be writing to Mercedes to ask them to reconsider. The Grenfell community deserves better.”

A Mercedes spokesperson said: “Our partner Kingspan has supported, and continues to support, the vitally important work of the Inquiry to determine what went wrong and why in the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

“Our new partnership announced this week is centred on sustainability, and will support us in achieving our targets in this area.”