Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams 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 Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
