Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
