F1 News
Mercedes comes under fire after high-profile collaboration
- GPblog.com
Mercedes announced this week a partnership with Kingspan. The new sponsorship is encountering a lot of resistance from the relatives of the 72 victims who died in the Grenfell Tower four years ago. Via an open letter, the relatives are trying to convince team boss Toto Wolff that they are right, according to Motorsportweek.com.
On June 14, 2017, a fire broke out in Grenfell Tower, killing dozens of people. Various investigations revealed that the exterior, which Kingspan was responsible for, allowed the fire to spread at lightning speed. This made it impossible for the fire brigade to extinguish the fire and rescue people from the building in time.
The drama still causes a lot of grief to the relatives, which is why they were surprised to hear that Mercedes is going to cooperate with the company. In the letter to Wolff, they even call the situation shocking. "Kingspan played a central role in inflicting the pain and suffering we feel today, and there must be some degree of public disapproval for Kingspan's recklessness and carelessness for human lives."
Pressure on Mercedes' shoulders
As a result, Mercedes is under considerable fire due to the collaboration. Although the German racing stable has not yet reacted to the situation, the message from the relatives is clear: end the sponsorship immediately. It is unknown if Mercedes will actually go that far, but it can certainly not be ruled out.