Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
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 has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 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 won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
