Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
