Wolff Preparing to Sell Stake Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6bn

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.

Ownership Breakdown

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

An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Financial Growth

The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.

This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film to date.

Present Performance

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

Mercedes' primary racer British driver 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 for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.