Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
