Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
