Toto Wolff Set to Divest Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
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 $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
