Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who both hold one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams 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 Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
