Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise 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 recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
