Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's 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 won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
