Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's 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, from 2014 to 2021.
