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

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.

Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.

The 53-year-old 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, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, 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 since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.

This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.

This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Current Performance

Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.

Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

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