Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
