Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
