Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion

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

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.

Ownership Structure

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.

An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.

The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.

Current Performance

Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.

Their lead driver 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 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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