Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
