Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
