Who Owns Mercedes F1? Mercedes-Benz, Toto Wolff and INEOS Explained

Mercedes F1 has three equal ownership blocks: Mercedes-Benz, INEOS and an entity controlled by Toto Wolff each hold one-third of the team. Wolff also runs the racing operation. George Kurtz has an indirect interest through Wolff’s entity, rather than a separate 15% share of the entire team.

The structure is behind the Mercedes operation that took Kimi Antonelli to his first drivers’ championship in Mexico City on November 1. Formula 1’s account of the title describes Wolff’s role in promoting and supporting Antonelli. Ownership explains who holds the business behind those sporting decisions.

The three ownership blocks

The team’s current governance page describes three equal partners. The Kurtz investment sits inside that arrangement, so adding his 5% to three full thirds would count the same equity twice.

How INEOS became an equal owner

The three-way arrangement was announced on December 18, 2020. Daimler, the name used for the Mercedes parent in that announcement, was to reduce its 60% holding. Wolff was to increase his 30% interest, creating three equal partners with INEOS. Those older percentages describe the position before the announced restructuring.

INEOS was already a principal commercial partner. Taking an ownership stake added an investment in the business to that sponsorship relationship. The announcement also said the operation would remain Mercedes-Benz’s works Formula 1 team, racing Mercedes chassis and power units. Bringing in an equal shareholder did not mean selling the team outright.

INEOS still identifies itself as a one-third owner. Its current description also outlines the company’s industrial connections to racing, including chemicals and compounds used in carbon fiber, oils, paints and other components. Those technical and commercial activities are additional parts of the relationship, separate from the size of its equity holding.

Why Kurtz’s 15% means 5% of the team

Mercedes announced Kurtz’s investment on November 20, 2025. The CrowdStrike founder and CEO personally acquired a 15% minority interest in the ownership entity controlled by Wolff. The announcement concerns a transaction from last year, not a new sale following Antonelli’s championship.

Fifteen percent multiplied by one-third equals 5%. The 15% measures Kurtz’s ownership of the entity that holds the team stake; 5% measures the resulting indirect interest in Mercedes F1.

Mercedes appointed Kurtz technology advisor and added him to its strategic steering committee. It said governance would remain unchanged and Wolff would continue in his executive roles.

Who runs Mercedes F1?

Wolff remains team principal and CEO on the current governance page. Those jobs are distinct from his ownership interest: a shareholder holds equity, while an executive has operating responsibilities. The team says its board provides strategic oversight and delegates day-to-day responsibility to the management committee.

That committee includes Wolff, managing director Rob Thomas and technical director James Allison, alongside the finance, legal, commercial and other senior functions. Mercedes therefore has both shared ownership and an executive structure; ownership percentages alone do not describe every management responsibility.

Ownership, sponsorship and money

A percentage holding describes equity in the business. It does not state the team’s annual revenue, the cash an owner contributes each season or the owner’s personal wealth. Those are different financial measures. Likewise, an estimated value for the entire team would not establish the price paid for a particular minority investment.

The team’s PETRONAS title partnership dates to 2010, according to the 2020 ownership announcement. CrowdStrike became a global partner in 2019, before Kurtz’s personal investment. Sponsorship can sit alongside ownership, as with INEOS, but a brand appearing in the team name or on the car does not by itself identify an equity stake.