Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 since Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
