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 the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
