Wolff reiterates full committment to Mercedes after share sale

20:58, 23 Nov

Updated: 21:35, 23 Nov

byTobia Elia

Toto Wolff has gone into more detail about the deal that saw him sell a portion of his Mercedes shares to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz.

"I have no plan to sell the team or no plan to leave my role eventually"

- Toto Wolff

On the eve of the Las Vegas GP weekend, Mercedes confirmed that a new minority shareholder is joining the team.

Toto Wolff sold 15% of his shareholding of the team to George Kurtz, the co-founder and CEO of CrowdStrike. The deal has sent Mercedes’ valuation soaring to an impressive £4.6 bullion.

The team boss also answered questions about the deal after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, confirming he has no intention to sell more.

Toto Wolff - Photo: Race Pictures

"I have no plan to sell the team or no plan to leave my role eventually," he told media after the Las Vegas GP, which saw both Russell and Antonelli inherit the podium following McLaren's double disqualfication.

Wolff confirmed that he still feels completely comfortable in his role at Mercedes and that he made this decision to help the brand expand in the U.S. market.

"I'm in a good space and enjoying it. And as long as I feel I'm contributing and others feel that I'm contributing, there's no reason to think in that direction. I sold some shares to George [Kurtz], 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."

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Finally, about the exponential rise in value of Mercedes and F1 teams in recent years, Wolff added: "If someone would have told us five years ago what the valuations would be, we would have never believed it, but it's a simple extrapolation the profitability of the teams.

"Because of the cost cap, our business case changed fundamentally rather than outspending each other with no matter what. We were able to increase the revenues and increase the free cash flows. And that put on the multiples that the industry has led us to these valuations."

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