Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to 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 principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's 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 for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
