Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 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 Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
