Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding in the region of five percent.
The 53-year-old would stay on as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of the team will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion 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 F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races left this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes secured a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
