Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
