Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
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 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 in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
