Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 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
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 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's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
