Toto Wolff Buys 1% of Aston Martin Shares

Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, has bought shares in Aston Martin accumulating up to 0.95% of the company, worth £37 million.

Aston Martin, a long time British car maker, will return to the Formula 1 grid next year, following a recent takeover from Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll, who is also a friend of the Austrian.

Currently, Aston Martin are title sponsors of Mercedes and Wolff’s main championship rivals Red Bull, though that agreement is set to come to a conclusion at the end of 2020, with Stroll rebranding the Racing Point F1 team where he is currently part-owner and his son, Lance Stroll races.

The Wolff-Stroll link stretches past their personal connection, as Mercedes parent company Daimler also controls 5% non-voting shares in Aston Martin which they acquired in 2013 and, to this day, remain their largest supplier.

Racing Point currently run Mercedes engines and ran into controversy at the start of the year when their latest RP20 was noted as being remarkably similar to the Mercedes W10 from 2019.

Wolff bought a 4.77% stake that after being diluted due to a rights issue will represent 0.95% of Aston Martin.

It’s considered unlikely that anything will change in the near future with Wolff, who is expected to remain in charge of Mercedes F1, where he still owns a 30% stake. After six back to back championships, it would seem unlikely that Wolff would abandon his connections with the Silver Arrows and may instead be a move to strengthen the partnership of Mercedes to Aston Martin, especially after his investment was given the blessing of the Daimler board.

Speaking about his future at Mercedes, Wolff told an Austrian paper recently;

“I’m in the eighth year now. I love sports and this team. However, I am somewhat surprised by the turn of events over the winter and by the behaviour of individual people.

“Of course, this also has to do with my decision on what to do in 2020 and beyond. But I am and will remain the head of Mercedes Motorsport and F1 boss, and nothing will change in the short term.”

Mercedes, like most other teams on the grid will see both of their drivers out of contract at the end of the year as Mercedes are expected to review their commitment to the sport in the near future.