Toto Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion 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 in the region of five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Breakdown

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

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

The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.

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

The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.

Present Standings

Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

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

Mercedes 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.