Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
