Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 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 this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
