Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
