Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
