Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
