Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix 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 individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
