Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
