Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
