Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
