Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
