Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
