Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
