Toto Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix 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 won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
