Ineos has been the main partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team since this year, with its white lettering on a burgundy background on the race cars' so-called airbox, the air intake above the driver's head. Now the chemicals group is also taking a one-third stake in the Formula One racing team. At the same time, Daimler will reduce its stake from the current 60% and Toto Wolff will increase his stake from the current 30% to create three equal shareholders in the company. In the future, the shares will be held in three equal parts by Ineos, Daimler and Toto Wolff.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of Ineos, said: “Big challenges are a core part of our mindset at Ineos and our involvement across a number of different sports demonstrates that we always aim for the very best. When we entered Formula One earlier this year, we chose to do so with a Mercedes team that had set new benchmarks, and since then we have been in discussions about how we could increase our involvement. This is a unique opportunity to make a financial investment in a team at the very top of its game, but which still has rich potential to grow in the future. We could not wish for better partners.”