Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team stays unaltered, and each shareholder are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458m) at the box office.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the most successful sports movie to date.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up 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 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the drivers' championship after McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
