Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 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 won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
