Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
