Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
