Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 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 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
