Toto Wolff committed to Mercedes F1 team despite selling stake

Toto Wolff has reiterated his desire to remain at the Mercedes F1 team despite selling a 15 per cent stake.

During the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Mercedes announced Wolff had sold a portion of his shareholding to George Kurtz, the CEO and founder of cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Wolff is one-third co-owner of the Mercedes team, alongside INEOS and Mercedes-Benz.

His decision to sell a stake led to questions about his immediate future.

Wolff has been part of Mercedes since 2013, leading the team to unprecedented title dominance.

Mercedes have struggled in recent years, taking only a handful of victories since 2022.

However, 2026 is expected to be a successful year for them as the new rules come into play.

Speaking after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Wolff confirmed that he has no plans to sell up or quit as team principal.

“I have no plan to sell the team or no plan to leave my role,” Wolff told reporters.

“I’m actually in a good space and I’m enjoying it and as long as I feel I’m contributing, and others feel that I’m contributing, then there’s no reason to think in that direction.

“What I did this week in my investment holding, I sold some shares to George, who is a racer, who is a tech entrepreneur, who is someone that is going to help us leverage the US market.

“That was the reason behind it and nothing else.”

Mercedes’ incredible valuation

Mercedes is now valued at $6 billion (£4.6bn), highlighting F1’s global appeal.

F1 has enjoyed a remarkable rise in popularity since 2018. Liberty Media’s digital output, notably Netflix’s Drive to Survive, has contributed to a boom period for the sport.

Wolff sees no reason why teams can’t continue to grow in terms of value, especially with the financial regulations in place.

“Yeah, I mean, if someone would have told us five years ago what the valuations would be, we would have never believed it,” he added.

“But it’s a simple ex-calculation of the profitability of the teams.

“Because of the cost cap, our business case changed fundamentally, rather than outspending each other. No matter what, we are simply, you know…protected us from ourselves.

“We were able to increase the revenues and increase the free cash flows. And that put on the marginals that the industry has led us to these valuations.

“Now, when you look at US-American teams, you know, the Dallas Cowboys five years ago were 3 billion, today they are 12.

“Because of the underlying figures that have changed. And that’s why I don’t know where the future leads us.

“If we continue to try to understand what makes a sport enjoyable and entertaining and putting up a great show, then there is no reason that the sport can continue to grow as it is.”