Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised 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 in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
