Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
