Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
