Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
