Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group bought its share for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
