Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
