Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
