Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
