Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
