Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
