Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film ever released.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
