Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.