Toto Wolff is in advanced talks to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
