Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a stake approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold one-third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight consecutive constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
