Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff meets Grenfell . survivors

Mercedes Formula One boss Toto Wolff will meet survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire after apologizing on behalf of his team on Friday for any problems caused by a sponsorship deal with a related company. regarding the 2017 disaster.

The deal with Kingspan, an Irish company that makes high-performance cladding and insulation products, including some used on the West London tower block, was announced this week.

The company’s branding is on the car that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is driving at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Grenfell United, which represents survivors of the fire that killed 72 people, wrote to Wolff seeking to end the partnership “really shocking”.

In a written response, Wolff apologized for “the additional harm this announcement has caused”.

He said Mercedes was engaged “deeply” with the company prior to the deal to understand any part its products played in the disaster and was assured it had no role in the design or construction of cladding system.

The highly flammable coating has been identified as central to the rapid spread of flames.

The Austrian wrote: “I know that this does not change in any way the terrible tragedy you have suffered, or the deep and ongoing pain in your community”.

“I want to thank Grenfell United for offering to meet in person so that I can learn and understand better. I look forward to getting together as soon as possible.”

UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove has also called on Mercedes to reconsider the partnership, saying on Twitter he was “deeply disappointed” that Mercedes accepted funding from Kingspan while an investigation was ongoing. .

“I will write to Mercedes to ask them to reconsider. The Grenfell community deserves better,” he said.

Gove’s opposition counterpart, Lisa Nandy, welcomed his “quick criticism” but urged him to take a stand and return party political donations from bearable property developers. responsible for buildings with similar coatings.

Kingspan said in a statement that it had no role in the design of the cladding system on Grenfell Tower, where its K15 product accounts for about 5% of the insulation.

It added that the product “was used as a substitute product without the knowledge of Kingspan in a system that was not compliant with building regulations.

“The new partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team reflects the ambitious sustainability goals of both organisations.”