Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
