Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.