Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
