Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
