Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.