Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on 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 company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place 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 straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
