Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
