Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams in the past few years due to the growing popularity of the sport globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
