Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
