Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
