Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
