Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
