Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
