Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
