Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. 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 Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two 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.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
