Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
