Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
