Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.