Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn

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

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.

Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.

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

Shareholder Structure

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

An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Growth

This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.

This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $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, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.

Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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