Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
