Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
