Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
