Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
