Toto Wolff Belgian Grand Prix, , Richard Pardon
Formula 1 Hot News

Mercedes Overtake Ferrari as the Most Valuable Brand in F1

Posted by AR1 staff

Relatively speaking, it’s been a good F1 season for Mercedes. They won the Canadian Grand Prix, courtesy of George Russell’s mature drive, and have racked up six podium finishes in all with three races remaining of the campaign.

The German operator currently sits second in the Constructors’ Championship, so if they can maintain their performance until the end of the season, they will oust Red Bull and Ferrari as the ‘best of the rest’ on the grid behind McLaren.

And there’s good news in a commercial sense too, with Toto Wolff’s stock sale valuing Mercedes at $6 billion – overtaking Ferrari as F1’s most valuable team.

Commercial Appeal

From a competitive standpoint, Mercedes’s hopes of landing the drivers’ title are well and truly over – the sports betting odds from Paddy Power confirming that either of the McLaren duo, with Lando Norris favorite at -800, or Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will hoist the trophy in 2025.

A betting calculator shows that a $10 stake on Norris would net a profit of just $1.25… so it’s fair to say that it would be a huge shock if the Brit isn’t declared champion in Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes, meanwhile, will be hoping to parlay commercial success into better performances on the track in 2026 and beyond.

Their co-owner, Toto Wolff, has decided to sell 5% of his 33% shareholding in the team, but the Austrian will stay on as principle and CEO.

Wolff initially acquired his stake when the team was worth less than $1 billion, but his sale now values Mercedes at $6 billion – a record for an F1 constructor.

It trumps the $4.6 billion valuation placed upon McLaren, who underwent an ownership restructure back in September, despite their new-found dominance on the track.

Ferrari, generally considered to be the most valuable Formula One outfit over the past few decades, perhaps haven’t grown as quickly as their rivals – they are valued, as per Sportico, at around $4.7 billion.

The same outlet, meanwhile, prices Red Bull at around $3.5 billion, so even though they have been the most powerful force in F1 over the past five years, the company still holds less commercial appeal than the Scuderia and Mercedes.

Reaping the Rewards

Formula One continues to grow as a money-making machine. The Drive to Survive series on Netflix now spans seven seasons, with a whopping 700 million people worldwide having tuned in at some point.

Former motor racing champion Mario Andretti described the show as delivering a ‘new fervour’ for Formula One; particularly in the United States, where the sport has grown to the extent that there’s now three races on the annual fixture list.

That appetite has been doubled down on via the F1 movie, which was released to critical acclaim in 2025 – 7.7 on IMDB, 82% on Rotten Tomatoes – and grossed more than $630 million at the Box Office.

Liberty Media has long targeted success in the U.S. as key to its growth strategy, with all the signs suggesting that a younger audience has been beguiled by the sport in recent years.

And with the developing interest in F1 in the Middle East, these team valuations will surely only continue to grow and grow.