🔗 Share this article Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Valuing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion Toto Wolff has guided Mercedes to historic success in Formula 1 Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit. The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September. The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%. The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed. Shareholder Breakdown The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise. An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1." Financial Growth The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022. This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal 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 last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide. It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date. Present Standings Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship. Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen. The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.