Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
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 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
