Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
