Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes 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 shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
