Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion

Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.

Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes 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 governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Increase

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.