Toto Wolff to sell part of his stake in Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1
Plus: MADRING architect, Jarno Zaffelli joins the podcast
Jarno Zaffelli sculpts racetracks.
As the founder of Dromo Circuit Design, he’s the man behind Zandvoort’s revival and Silverstone’s refinements, and now F1’s newest circuit, the MADRING.
In this episode, we sit down with the Italian designer redefining what “track design” means, and how each track is a living organism: flowing, breathing, and built with emotion as much as engineering.
We explore:
The passion and philosophy behind Madring.
How Italian artistry shapes modern circuit design
Lessons from Zandvoort, Silverstone, and Suzuka.
The balance of science, art, and obsession that drives Zaffelli’s process.
Why imperfection creates beauty in life, love, and lap times.
Toto Wolff is selling part of his Mercedes F1 stake at a $6B valuation
The math: Toto bought into Mercedes in 2013 at a ~$165M valuation. This deal values the team at $6B. That’s roughly a 36x return in 12 years while he ran the operation.
Remember when Zak Brown said “every team is worth at least $1B”?
The structure: He’s selling a “mid-single-digit” stake (likely 3-5%) through his holding company while keeping his CEO/Team Principal role. Classic founder liquidity move. Take some chips off the table while staying in the game.
More context:
McLaren just sold at $4.7B (MSP made 10x in 4 years)
F1 went from “license to burn money” to institutional investment grade
Cost cap era fundamentally changed team economics
Mercedes posted $812M revenue, Toto earned $50M+ last year
But who’s writing checks at these valuations? Sovereign wealth? Family office? Strategic investor who sees $6B as entry price to F1’s growth story?
Business of Speed will be at the Las Vegas Grand Prix! If you’re going to be in town at all that week, let’s connect.