Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
