Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with 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 the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
