Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
