Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren were valued at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
