Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
