Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's 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 for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
