Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
