Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
