Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, 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's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
