Toto Wolff Preparing to Sell Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.

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

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Valuation Growth

The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining 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 drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.