Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in a change of corporate structure in September.
Wolff, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team will remain unchanged, and each shareholder are dedicated to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its share for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the success of the Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
