Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own 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 unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity 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 in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
