Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
