Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values Mercedes at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Breakdown
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and has grossed more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
