Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success 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 growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
