Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations 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 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 movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
