Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year 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 won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.