Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
