Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
