Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in a change of ownership structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds a 33% stake of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Ownership Structure
Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We are providing no comment on the matter. The management structure of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are dedicated to the ongoing success of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Increase
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team after Ineos Group bought its share for £208 million in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits in the past few years due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie featuring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports movie to date.
Present Performance
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix this year and is fourth in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
