Toto Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
