Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has offered his sincere apologies to survivors group Grenfell United following criticism of the Formula 1 team for signing a sponsorship deal with a company linked to the west London tower.
Earlier this week Mercedes announced a deal with Kingspan, a firm which made some of the insulation used on Grenfell Tower, the tower block that caught fire in 2017, killing 72 people.
That was met with condemnation from Grenfell United, a group that represents survivors and bereaved families, who labelled the relationship "truly shocking" and demanded it was severed.
Wolff, Mercedes' team principal and CEO, replied with an open letter of his own on Friday.
He apologised for the "additional hurt" caused by the announcement, while also repeating Kingspan's own statements that they played no role in the design or construction of the cladding system at Grenfell Tower, and that only a small percentage of their product was used, without their knowledge.
Wolff also accepted Grenfell United's offer to meet in person.
"The tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire was beyond imaginable to me, and it should never happened," said Wolff.
"On behalf of our team, I would sincerely like to apologise to you for the additional hurt that this announcement has caused. It was never our intention to do so.
"The work of the public inquiry to establish the full causes of the tragedy is crucially important. Prior to concluding our partnership we engaged with Kingspan in depth to understand what role their products played in what happened at Grenfell.
"Kingspan have stated that they played no role in the design or construction of the cladding system on Grenfell Tower, and that a small percentage of their product was used as a substitute without their knowledge in part of the system which was not compliant with building regulations and was unsafe.
"I know that this does not change in any way the awful tragedy you suffered, or the deep and ongoing pain felt in your community, and I would like to thank Grenfell United for the offer to meet in person for me to learn and understand better.
"I look forward to coming together as soon as we can."
Kingspan's logo featured on Mercedes' cars during opening practice in Saudi Arabia for this weekend's Grand Prix.
Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, had previously added his voice to the condemnation of Mercedes.
Mr Gove 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."
The letter from Grenfell United meanwhile read: "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."