Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year 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 unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
