Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races 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 secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
