Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
