Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
