Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, 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
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
