Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
