Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's 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 for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.