Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell part of his shareholding in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – after McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in a change of ownership structure last September.
The Austrian executive, who owns one-third of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
Wolff, aged 53 would stay on as team principal and chief executive officer if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos Group, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 will remain unaltered, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One."
Financial Growth
The deal would represent a substantial rise in worth of Mercedes F1 after Ineos bought its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of Formula 1 outfits recently as a consequence of the growing popularity of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie featuring Hollywood star 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 most successful sports film to date.
Present Standings
The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren Racing, with three races remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a record eight straight constructors' championships and seven driver championships, six for Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, between 2014 to 2021.
