Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal values the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a stake in the region of 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the company.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
This surge demonstrates the expansion in valuations of Formula 1 outfits 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 Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted last summer and earned more than $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
It is Pitt's most successful film and the highest-earning sports film ever released.
Current Performance
Mercedes are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren, with three races left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
