Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
