Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 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 has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers 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, from 2014 and 2021.
