Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders 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 each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
