Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
