Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
