Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
