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

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

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Structure

Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.

An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."

Valuation Growth

The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.

It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports film ever released.

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.