As Formula 1 continues to draw in a growing audience, McLaren Racing, the team currently dominating the championship, has just been valued at over £3 billion (around $5.53 billion CAD) as part of a major sale.
The latest transaction involves the 30-percent stake that was held by MSP Sports Capital and other minority shareholders. Those shares are now being bought out by Mumtalakat, Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, and CYVN Holdings of Abu Dhabi.
A spectacular return on investment
For comparison, those same shares, acquired in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, had valued the team at £560 million. The increase is prodigious, the new valuation being more than five times higher than the previous one.
Star drivers and on-track success
Clearly, McLaren's sporting performance is fueling investor enthusiasm. In 2024, the team won its first constructors' championship since 1998 and it currently leads the drivers' standings with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as its racers.
At the same time, the global popularity of F1, boosted by marketing initiatives like the Netflix series Drive to Survive, is attracting significant capital and justifying record valuations in the sport.
More than a team, an expanding empire
McLaren is no longer limited to F1. The organization also participates in the IndyCar series and is planning its entry into the World Endurance Championship starting in 2027. The arrival of Mastercard as a title sponsor from 2026 also confirms the group's growing commercial strength.
The new valuation illustrates the successful restructuring of McLaren under the leadership of Zak Brown and its renewed appeal to international investors. And not least, it confirms McLaren's status as a key player in F1 and global sports.