Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
