Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
This transaction estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6 billion – a record for a Formula 1 squad – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, plans to divest a shareholding approximately five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes-Benz and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the company.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We will be making no comment on the matter. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos Group acquired its share for £208 million in 2022.
This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams in the past few years as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 globally.
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 more than $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
The film represents Pitt's most successful movie and the most successful sports film ever released.
Current Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the team standings, trailing McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won two of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings after McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.
