🔗 Share this article

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 – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.

Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.

Shareholder Structure

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

A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."

Valuation Growth

The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.

This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.

It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.

Current Performance

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.

Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.