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 £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams 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 Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
