Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams 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 in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two 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's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
