Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes’ Formula 1 team, has refuted claims of an impending separation between the automotive giant and its part-owner, chemical firm INEOS, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Telegraph had previously reported that Mercedes was looking to acquire INEOS’ share in the team, with purported “tense negotiations” taking place between the two parties.
INEOS, Daimler – the parent company of Mercedes, and Wolff, each hold an equal stake in the F1 team. The rumour mill was fueled when Mercedes decided to remove the eye-catching red logo of INEOS from the W16 car’s air intake, which sits above the driver’s cockpit. The only branding of the chemical conglomerate that remained on the 2025 challenger was a small insignia on the inside of the front wing endplate.
Dismissing the rumours, Wolff asserted that Ratcliffe continues to be an integral part of the championship-winning team. He told Sky Sports News at a live event, “Jim Ratcliffe is one of us three amigos – Mercedes, Jim and I. We are never going to part ways, he’s been a great sponsor. We have had projects together, nothing you read in the news will change anything.”
Adding to Wolff’s statement, a Mercedes spokesperson stated to Crash.net that “There have been no discussions at any point of a shareholder change and sponsorship with INEOS is ongoing and stable.”
Craig Slater, a reporter for Sky Sports News, had previously debunked the rumours of a split between Mercedes and INEOS. Slater clarified that Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains a one-third owner of the F1 team, and dismissed the Telegraph’s report that Daimler-Benz was planning to buy out Ratcliffe due to the latter’s inability to sponsor the team as he had done in the past.
Mercedes, Slater reported, assured him that “There have been no discussions at any point of a shareholder change, and sponsorship with INEOS is ongoing and stable.”
The 2025 season will see George Russell leading the Mercedes team’s championship battle, with Formula 2’s rising star Andrea Kimi Antonelli as his teammate. Antonelli replaces Lewis Hamilton, who shocked the motorsport world with his move to Ferrari at the start of last year. Despite the upheaval, Mercedes remains confident, as evident from Wolff’s dismissal of the split rumours and the assertion that their relationship with INEOS continues to be “ongoing and stable.”
