Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
