Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn

Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell 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 McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.

An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.

The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.

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

Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.