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

Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately five percent.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.

Shareholder Breakdown

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

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."

Financial Growth

This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.

This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

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

Present Standings

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.