Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects 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 trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers 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 won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
