Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents 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, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
