Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
