Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations 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 starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers 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 and 2021.
