Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship 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 for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
