Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued 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.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
