Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
