Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
