Toto Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team stays 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 value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
