Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
