Toto Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of 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 CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
