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 estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
