Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part 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 – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races 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 drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
