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 £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after the McLaren team were valued at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
Wolff, who holds one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.
The 53-year-old will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who both hold a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement signifies a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group acquired its stake for £208 million in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the growth in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is Pitt's most successful movie and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three races remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won two of the 21 races this year and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
