Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
