Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after 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 driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
