Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge 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 box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
