Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
