Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining 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 drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
