Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
