Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to offload a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure in September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and chief executive officer 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.
An official representative said: "We will be making no comment on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 globally.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film featuring Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Their lead driver British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
