Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
