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 the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
