Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in market values of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie 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 Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
