Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
