Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success 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.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
