Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far 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 unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.