Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
