George Kurtz is an FIA bronze-rated race car driver and co-owner of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team thanks to acquisitions from Toto Wolff. Notably, Kurtz has been a partner of the Mercedes F1 team since 2019. He has now secured a 15% minority interest in the ownership entity controlled by Toto Wolff. This deal values Mercedes at $6 billion, the highest for an F1 team.
Businessman and endurance racer
Kurtz is a respected business leader who built the most successful AI company of the modern era. He is co-founder and CEO of CrowdStrike, a 3.95-billion-dollar cybersecurity tech company. The American businessman has a unique combination of experience in cybersecurity and large-scale technology operations. His experience will be quite valuable in this new avenue on the Mercedes F1 team with Wolff.
In the motorsport’s world, Kurtz is an accomplished FIA bronze-rated endurance racer. He won the LMP2 Pro-Am class of Le Mans 24 Hours in 2023 and wants to continue being part of this space. He had five seasons in the IMSA-backed WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and four 24 Hours of Daytona races.
Kurtz is not new to the Mercedes F1 team, either. His AI cybersecurity company logo was featured on team cars and race suits for many years. Kurtz’s newest participation will be in the advisory capacity of the Mercedes F1 team whilst Toto Wolff continues in all existing executive roles.
Role as Technology Advisor
Additionally, Kurtz joins the strategic steering committee consisting of Chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Group Ola Källenius, INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and Toto Wolff. In his capacity as Technology Advisor, Kurtz will be working in the intersection of competitive motorsport, data analytics, and performance. Given his racing experience and tech background, Kurtz will make a great addition to the Mercedes F1 team alongside Wolff. His statements in recent press release, proves he knows what it takes to win.
“Winning in racing and cybersecurity requires speed, precision, and innovation. Milliseconds matter. Execution counts. Data wins,” said George Kurtz, CrowdStrike Founder and CEO.
Kurtz is looking forward to being more involved with Mercedes F1 as he joins Wolff’s holding company that controls one third of the team. Alongside INEOS and Mercedes-Benz, he will contribute to the strategic advancement of the team by securing a competitive advantage and investment from new tech partners.
“Technology is reshaping competitive advantage and human capability everywhere, including motorsport. I’m excited to help the team securely accelerate forward.”
Welcome to Mercedes F1
Kurtz has been a Global Partner with Mercedes F1 in 2019 and isn’t new to this space. Wolff is very confident that this strategic partnership will protect the team’s technology infrastructure and build on the already strong foundation of Mercedes.
Wolff welcomes Kurtz to the team, saying “George’s background is unusual in its breadth: he’s a racer, a loyal sporting ambassador for Mercedes-AMG, and an exceptional entrepreneur. He understands both the demands of racing and the realities of building and scaling technology businesses. That combination brings specific insight that is increasingly relevant to the future of Formula One.”
