Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team 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 stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
