Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its share for £208 million 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 Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
