Toto Wolff Set to Sell 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.

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.

Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.

An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."

Financial Increase

The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.