Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
