Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
