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

Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.

Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.

The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Increase

This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

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

This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Present Performance

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.

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