Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
