Oscar Piastri-Lando Norris led McLaren now worth over £3B amid recent ownership shuffle

McLaren Racing, home to Formula 1 title contenders Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, has been valued at more than £3bn following a change in its ownership structure. The deal sees Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, and Abu Dhabi-based CYVN Holdings buy out minority shareholders, giving them full control of the team. The move caps a remarkable turnaround for one of F1’s most historic outfits and highlights the commercial rise of the sport in recent years.

According to the BBC, the transaction represents a sixfold increase in McLaren Racing’s value since 2020. At that time, US-based MSP Capital spent £185m for a 33% stake that valued the company at £560m. Now, with MSP and other minority backers exiting, McLaren is owned outright by its long-time partners Mumtalakat and CYVN.

CEO Zak Brown told BBC Sport:

"It's a great day for McLaren. It has been an amazing quest to get back to where we are. It wasn't long ago our business was extremely challenged and we weren't competitive. So, five years later, this underlines the success F1 is having in the cost-cap era and has enabled us to be competitive. It's great to have McLaren back at the front again and great to have a simplified ownership structure."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, McLaren was one of the hardest-hit teams financially, even using its car collection as collateral to secure funding. The contrast with today is stark. The simplified ownership, underpinned by Mumtalakat’s long-standing involvement and CYVN’s recent expansion into McLaren Automotive, positions the group for both stability and growth. Executive chairman Paul Walsh reflected on the investor shift:

"Our suite of minority investors came on board in 2020 and we thank them for their tremendous support… We now have two fantastic shareholders in Mumtalakat, a long-standing and deeply valued partner, and CYVN, whose additional investment… strengthens our ability to future-proof the business and capture new growth opportunities."

The reasons for this valuation leap are clear: the team has regained competitiveness on track and brought financial clarity to it. As the board highlighted, the team’s commercial base and racing results are now aligned, an outcome few would have predicted five years ago.

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Performance surge mirrors McLaren’s soaring valuation

(L-R) Lando Norris, Andrea Stella, Zak Brown, and Oscar Piastri at Zandvoort. Source: Getty

McLaren’s rise in value mirrors its return to the front of Formula 1. The team last won the Constructors’ championship in 1998, but in 2024, they shocked the paddock with a late-season charge after Miami, edging Ferrari by 14 points to take the title. The success has carried into 2025.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have won 13 out of 15 races so far, including seven 1-2 finishes. They are just three short of the legendary Alain Prost - Ayrton Senna's record of 10 1-2s for the Papaya in 1988. They also dominate the championship tables.

In the Constructors’ standings, they sit on 584 points compared to Ferrari's 260, while in the drivers’ standings Piastri leads on 309, Norris follows on 275, and Max Verstappen trails in third with 205. With nine rounds left, both titles look close to decided.

Much of the credit has gone to the pairing of Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella. Ever since Stella took charge in 2022, they have created one of the most efficient partnerships in modern F1. Both drivers are locked into long-term contracts, giving the team continuity as new regulations arrive in 2026.

If the papaya cars can sustain this trajectory, their valuation is only likely to climb further.