Paris (AFP)
British industrial giant Ineos, known for its sports acquisitions, becomes a shareholder in the Mercedes F1 team on an equal footing with the Daimler group and team boss Toto Wolff, Mercedes announced on Friday.
"The participation of Ineos up to a third in the team will be added to its current role of main partner, it is specified in a press release. At the same time, Daimler will reduce its stake by 60% currently and Toto Wolff will increase its 30% current, to create three equal partners in the business. "
This change in shareholding does not change the status of the team, which will remain "the factory team of Mercedes-Benz and will continue to race with Mercedes chassis and engines for years to come".
Wolff, on the other hand, will remain Team Principal and CEO "for an additional three years" while he is training his replacement.
"He will then have the opportunity to move on to a new executive function within the organization when he decides that it is the right time."
In 2021, a spending cap of $ 145 million (€ 120 million) per year goes into effect for F1 teams.
This will force Mercedes, whose current budget exceeds $ 400 million, to diversify its activities so as not to have to part with part of its staff.
"The team will be strengthened by a merger with Mercedes-AMG, the high performance division of Mercedes-Benz, and has already started to diversify thanks to its new sales division Applied Science (editor's note), which takes advantage of a high performance engineering capacity for innovative projects beyond motorsport ", indicates the team.
In December 2019, Mercedes and Ineos announced a partnership comprising sponsorship and the development of joint scientific and technical projects in F1, cycling and sailing, sectors in which Ineos was already involved.
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