Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
