Toto Wolff Set to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn

Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.

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

Ownership Structure

The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

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

It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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