Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
