Pressure grows on Mercedes from UK government over new partner

Mercedes is coming under increasing pressure from the United Kingdom government for like-minded to a sponsorship deal with a visitor under scrutiny for its part in the Grenfell disaster.

There were 72 people that lost their lives when the Grenfell tower woodcut unprotected fire in West London in 2017, with Kingspan supplying some of the cladding that was deemed responsible for the rapid spread of the fire. An ongoing public inquiry has accused Kingspan of ignoring fire safety test results, leading to significant criticism of Mercedes without it spoken a “global sustainability partnership” with the visitor and ran Kingspan logos on the car in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The rhetoric was increased when UK government minister Michael Gove wrote an unshut letter to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff – copying in F1 president Stefano Domenicali – warning that sponsorships in F1 could come under greater scrutiny if the team doesn’t terminate its deal.

“The Grenfell bereaved, survivors and wider polity have been failed in the past by both the state and the private sector,” Gove wrote. “They are right to finger tightly hurt and aggrieved by your visualization to sign this sponsorship deal whilst the public inquiry continues.

“It is important to note that as Secretary of State, the planning controls for outdoor razzmatazz spaces in England are a statutory responsibility that falls to me.

“Currently, widely speaking, adverts displayed on enclosed land, such as within sports stadia, or those displayed on vehicles, are excluded from uncontrived tenancy of the relevant authorities. My cabinet colleagues and I will alimony this system under unvarying and tropical review to ensure that the razzmatazz regime remains fit for purpose and reflects the public interest.

“I am conscious that there are very real questions well-nigh whether Parliament would support a statutory regime that enabled a cadre participant in a public enquiry in to how 72 people lost their lives to ventilate its products publicly to millions of families wideness the country.

“The achievements of Mercedes and Sir Lewis Hamilton in recent years represent a British success story of which we are all proud. I hope you will reconsider this commercial partnership, which threatens to undermine all the good work the visitor and the sport have done.”

Wolff had previously responded to a letter from survivors’ group Grenfell United asking him to terminate the deal, to which he replied he was keen to meet the group to understand increasingly but secure the Kingspan partnership.