Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year 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 drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
