Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old 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 one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
