Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values 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 Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
