Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "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 the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
