F1 not at full potential despite Mercedes $6bn valuation - Wolff

Mercedes Formula 1 boss and co-owner Toto Wolff says he sees "no reason" for the series to not keep growing amid soaring team valuations.

Wolff recently concluded the sale of 15% of his holding company to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, which represents a 5% share in the Mercedes outfit Wolff co-owns with Mercedes-Benz and Ineos.

The deal saw the Mercedes F1 team's value pegged at a record $6bn – a huge return on investment for Wolff, who became a shareholder in 2013.

The valuation means Mercedes, and in its wake several rival teams, has now reached a similar sphere as Europe's most valuable football teams like Manchester United, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The $6bn figure is derived from taking approximately seven times its record 2024 revenue of £636 million ($858 million). That further goes to show that F1's budget cap, which has made Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd a profitable business, is a huge factor behind its value soaring in recent years.

"If someone would have told us five years ago what the valuations would be, we would have never believed it," Wolff said when asked by Autosport if his team's soaring market value came as a shock.

"But it's a simple extrapolation of the profitability of the teams. Because of the cost cap, our business case changed fundamentally rather than outspending each other no matter what. Like [former F1 chairman] Chase [Carey] said, he protected us from ourselves. We were able to increase the revenues and increase the free cash flows. And that put on the multiples [of revenue] that have led us to these valuations."

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

But while F1 teams are now among the most valuable European sports franchises, Wolff says the $12bn valuation of the Dallas Cowboys American football team shows F1's ceiling isn't in sight just yet.

"When you look at the US teams, five years ago the Dallas Cowboys were $3bn. Today they are $12bn because of the underlying figures that have changed," he pointed out.

"And that's why I don't know where the future leads us. If we continue trying to understand what makes a sport enjoyable and entertaining and putting on a great show, then there is no reason that the sport can't continue to grow as it is. The most important [thing] is we need to look after our sport in the right way."

Clarifying the motives behind selling shares to Kurtz, whose CrowdStrike company is an important cybersecurity partner of the team, Wolff said: "I have no plan to sell the team or no plan to leave my role.

"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, there's no reason to think in that direction.

"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, but nothing else."