Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport 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 cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
