Toto Wolff Set to Sell Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left 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's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
