Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
