Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed 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
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
