Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates 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 ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
