Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport 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 more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers 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, between 2014 and 2021.
