Henkel said on Monday that it filed a lawsuit last month against Brawn GP to
assert that it had no obligations from a three-year sponsorship contract
signed this summer between Brawn, this year’s Formula One winning team, and
what it called a "Dutch letterbox company".

The row over the possibly forged contract comes at a delicate time for
Daimler, the German premium carmaker, which agreed to take a majority stake
in Brawn last month. Daimler is rumoured to be close to a deal with Michael
Schumacher for what would be a spectacular comeback for the seven times
world champion into Formula One as a driver for the all-German Mercedes
Grand Prix team.

Scandals at Formula One
The dispute also adds to a series of setbacks and scandals at Formula One this
year. The world’s most famous motor racing series has plunged into a deep
crisis amid the withdrawal of several high-profile teams, revelations about
a crash ordered by Renault and a row over the leadership of its governing
body.

Daimler said that "Mercedes GP is interested in a mutual conciliation
over the sponsoring contract agreed upon with Brawn this summer".
People close to the company said talks about a possible out-of-court
agreement had already started.

Henkel said Brawn had signed the contract with ERE BV, a Dutch company owned
by Willy Luchs, a German who was convicted of fraud in the 1990s.

Role Kai von Bargen
The consumer goods company said the deal had been struck with the help of Kai
von Bargen, a former middle manager responsible for sponsoring activities.
He presented Brawn with what he claimed was an authorisation from Henkel to
guarantee the deal.

Henkel claimed that Mr von Bargen’s authorisation was a forgery and that the
manager, who left the company in October, had no mandate to sign deals of
this size.

Henkel spends €2m each year on sponsorship – much less than the €30m per year
agreed between Brawn and the Dutch company. The deal was one of the largest
sponsorship contracts in the once cash-rich F1 series.

A spokesman for the Düsseldorf state prosecutors’ office said investigators
were still looking into the question of fraud. They were also examining
whether documents had been falsified.

Mr von Bargen’s lawyer did not return calls seeking comment and Mr Luchs’s
lawyer declined to comment.

Reaction Henkel
Henkel said it had told Daimler it did not have any sponsoring deal with Brawn
and then warned it about the alleged wrongdoing of Mr von Bargen before the
carmaker took over the racing team last month.

But people close to the carmaker said this was an internal issue for Henkel
and that Daimler did not have any reason to believe the contract not to be
valid.

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