Wolff in advanced talks to sell part of his stake in Mercedes

Austrian billionaire Wolff, Mercedes-Benz, and Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals giant INEOS currently each hold 33% stakes. The automaker would not comment on the report but said: “The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1.”

The FT and Sportico, which first reported the talks, indicated Wolff, who serves as team principal as well as head of Mercedes Motorsport, planned to bring an outside investor into the holding company that owns his stake.

The FT quoted a person with knowledge of the matter saying that the investor would end up taking a stake of about 5% in the team, with Wolff remaining in his roles. Sportico spoke of a “mid-single-digit stake.”

Global cybersecurity technology company Crowdstrike is a Mercedes team partner, with its branding on cars and driver apparel.

Mercedes won eight Constructors’ titles in a row from 2014 to 2021 and are second in the 2025 standings after 21 of 24 rounds. McLaren, who use Mercedes engines, have clinched the Constructors’ crown for the second year in a row and look set to add the Drivers’ title as well.

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings took full ownership of McLaren Racing last September in a deal one informed source said at the time valued the champions at $5 billion and set the benchmark.

Formula 1 team valuations have soared, fuelled by the sport’s rapid growth in popularity thanks to the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive and Apple’s upcoming F1 movie, since the days when owning a team was a fast way to lose money.

In 2009, Honda famously sold their team to principal Ross Brawn, leader of a management buyout after the Japanese manufacturer withdrew, for one pound. Brawn led the team to that year’s championship, with Jenson Button taking the Drivers’ crown.

Renault also reportedly bought the struggling Lotus team for the same amount in 2015. They now compete as Alpine, with celebrity shareholders including Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Alpine were valued at around $900 million after the investor group took a 24% equity stake in the team for 200 million euros in 2023.