Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 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.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
