Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in 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 principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Standings
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
