Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
