Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 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 Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
