Toto Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
