Mercedes Settles Henkel Dispute Out of Court

Now that Mercedes-Benz' Formula One works team signed a title sponsorship agreement with Malaysian oil giant Petronas for their future years in the Great Circle, it seems the team's legal dispute with German company Henkel has dropped to second place. As a result, the team showed its willingness to resolve the dispute amicably, without any further legal proceedings.

As reported by several media last week, it seems that an ex-employee of Henkel had signed a 90M euro agreement with Mercedes' new works team Brawn GP, following the German manufacturer's switch from Woking to Brackley. However, it turned out that the employer has done the signing without any prior consent from the company's management board, as he is now “subject of an embezzlement and fraud investigation.”

During the course of today, Mercedes GP issued a statement in which it confirmed that the team has reached a mutual agreement with Henkel, with the matter to be resolved outside the courtroom.

“Brawn GP announced today that the differences between Brawn GP and Henkel with regard to a Formula 1 sponsorship have been resolved by mutual agreement. All potential claims will be dropped. As a consequence, all court proceedings will be withdrawn,” said the statement from the Brackley-based team.

“The new Formula 1 Team Mercedes GP Petronas together with the colleagues from the former Formula 1 Team Brawn GP will continue to cooperate with the Prosecutor's Office and assist in the further clarification of the matter,” added the press release.

Therefore, the collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Henkel in the world of Formula One will come to an end, following their partnership during the McLaren days.