Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
