Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
