Wolff Preparing to Divest Stake Valuing Mercedes F1 at £4.6bn

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

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

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.

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

Ownership Structure

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.

An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."

Valuation Growth

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.

It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.

Current Standings

The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after 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.