Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
