Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
