Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
