Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
