Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in 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 the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 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 Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
