Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised 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 stake approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
