Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion 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 the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 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.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
