Toto Wolff Set to Sell Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion

Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Breakdown

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Growth

The deal would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.

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

Current Performance

Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.

Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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