Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
