Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
