Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver 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 record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
