Toto Wolff Set to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion

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

The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

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

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.

An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."

Valuation Increase

This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.

This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.

Present Standings

Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.

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

Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.