Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
