Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
